Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

Agence France-Presse via Defence News - Jul 20, 2007
http://defensenews.com/story.php?F=2913861&C=mideast

Report: UAE Could Be First Arab Nation to Send Troops to Afghanistan

Agence France-Presse

OTTAWA - The United Arab Emirates is planning to send troops to
Afghanistan to fight alongside Canadians, at Ottawa's behest to put a
"Muslim face" on the NATO-led coalition, media reported Friday.

The Toronto Star, citing unnamed sources, said Prime Minister Stephen
Harper's government had been urging the tiny Arab nation to
contribute soldiers and equipment to help stabilize war-torn
Afghanistan.

Canadian authorities were not immediately available to comment.

If the report is accurate, the Afghanistan deployment is believed to
be a first for an Arab nation and a diplomatic coup for Canada.

The UAE was one of only three countries that recognized the hard-line
Taliban government that took control of most of Afghanistan in 1996
and was forced out in a U.S.-led invasion in late 2001.

The Toronto daily said the UAE tactical force would be small and
mostly symbolic and would serve under Canadian commanders in the
field.

The UAE could also send four tanks, several armored reconnaissance
vehicles, two self-propelled 155mm guns and a detachment of unmanned
aerial vehicles, according to a military briefing note obtained by the
Star.

"The UAE is capable of bringing considerable financial support to
development projects and would provide a Muslim face to the
International Security Assistance Force operations, providing a
counterpoint to insurgent rhetoric," the note said.

===========================
Stop NATO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato
To subscribe, send an e-mailto:

==============================

*