Government denies commitment to 2010

No decision yet on troops

THE Federal Government has denied already committing Australian troops to spend another three years in Afghanistan to fight a resurgent Taliban movement.

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon yesterday contradicted a Dutch Government report to its parliament that Australia and the US had agreed to stay in the strife-torn south beyond 2008.

A report in Fairfax newspapers said the Netherlands’ deployment would be extended to August 2010 before withdrawing three months later.

Dutch troops play the lead role in Oruzgan province, where conflict with Taliban forces has seen three Australian soldiers killed in the past two months.

The Dutch Government report said Australia’s military effort was “significant and indispensable” and linked “to the duration of the Netherlands contribution”.

Mr Fitzgibbon said there has been no change to the term of the deployment in Afghanistan beyond August next year.

“While the Government continues to recognise the importance of continuing the effort in Afghanistan, no formal decisions have yet been made about future commitments beyond the current mandate,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

“Labor has indicated for some time that they would consider further reasonable requests for military assistance in Afghanistan.”

Mr Fitzgibbon was sworn in as Defence Minister since only last Monday.

Next week he will take part in a meeting in Edinburgh among defence ministers and representatives from countries with forces in Afghanistan to discuss operations in the country’s south.

Last year, the Howard government said its deployment of reconstruction troops, sent to Afghanistan in August last year, was for two years.

Up to 1000 Australian military personnel are stationed in Afghanistan, including 385 members of the Reconstruction Task Force and 300 members of the Special Operations Task Group, consisting mostly of commandoes and SAS soldiers.

“There’s been quite sensitive negotiations going on with the Dutch,” Australian Defence Association executive director Neil James said.

“The Netherlands Government’s a reasonably unstable coalition and so the extension of the Dutch (deployment) has to go through the legislature.”

Mr James said there appeared to be bipartisan support in Australia to stay in Afghanistan.

“Labor and the Coalition are locked into the fact this counter-insurgency war is going to be a long one.”