From: EurasiaDigest (digest@eurasianet.org)
Date: Thu Feb 02 2006 - 17:18:03 EST
AUSTRALIA READY TO SEND MORE TROOPS TO AFGHANISTAN IF DUTCH FORCES ARE DEPLOYED
Speaking on the sidelines of the London conference on 1 February, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said that his country is likely to send 200 troops to help the Dutch forces in the southern Oruzgan Province, AFP reported. "We'll have to wait and see whether that [Dutch deployment] happens," Downer added. In December, the Dutch government tentatively agreed to send 1,200 troops -- along with military hardware, including attack helicopters -- as part of the planned expansion by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), to southern Afghanistan. However, the government of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenede has faced opposition from some of its coalition partners on its plan (see "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report," 23 January 2006). After one of the parties opposed to sending troops to Afghanistan changed its stance on 30 January, it looks more likely that the Netherlands will indeed send its forces to Afghanistan, the Rotterdam daily "NRC Handelsblad" reported on 31 January. If the Dutch
decide to send their forces to Afghanistan, it would pave the way for the Australians to send their contingent. Australia already has around 300 troops, mostly special-forces soldiers, attached with the U.S.-led coalition operating in Afghanistan. On 2 February, Denmark approved deploying 200 troops to the ISAF mission. AT
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