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Afghan minister to discuss rules of engagement with Australian special forces
Afghanistan's foreign minister is expected to discuss the rules of engagement for Australian troops heading to his homeland when he meets members of the federal government.Abdullah Abdullah is due to arrive in Canberra on Wednesday and, with Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, will open Afghanistan's new embassy in the national capital on Thursday. The government announced last month it would send 150 special forces troops to Afghanistan by September in a $100 million deployment to counter increasing violence from rebel forces. It also is considering sending a 200-strong provincial reconstruction team to the war-damaged country next year, although a final decision has not been made. Mr Downer said he would discuss the troop deployment with Dr Abdullah. "We'll obviously talk a good deal about the troops and, you know, the rules of engagement and all those status of forces issues and so on," he told reporters. "That will be a big part of the discussions, and more broadly about the political environment in Afghanistan, what with the parliamentary elections coming up next month." Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World 2005-08-16 |
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