[NYTr] Widening the War - Canada Recruits Arab Soldiers for NATO's Afghanistan Occupn

[nytr at olm.blythe-systems.com]

 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.

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