British Military Team Leave for Afghan Peacekeeping Survey

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 16, 2001

British Military Team Leave for Afghan Peacekeeping Survey

A military team led by a British army general left London on Saturday for Afghanistan to prepare the way for a possible United Nations peacekeeping mission.

A military team led by a British army general left London on Saturday for Afghanistan to prepare the way for a possible United Nations peacekeeping mission.

"We are sending a small international reconnaissance and liaison team to Kabul today," a British defense ministry spokesman said.

"Major General John McColl will lead the team that will also include representatives from the United States, Canada and Italy," he said.

The 12-strong team is expected to assess the situation in Afghanistan and make a recommendation on troop numbers for an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

"They will discuss our proposals for an ISAF, its size and relationship with the interim authority, with leading Afghans such as the authority's chairman Hamid Karzai, the foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah and the defense minister General (Mohammad) Fahim," the spokesman said.

Arrangements are predicted to be finalized in time for the first foreign troops to be in place in Kabul, the Afghan capital, when the Afghan interim administration takes office on December 22.

The British spokesman also repeated London's position that it was willing to lead a peacekeeping force.

"We are committed to help rebuild a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan. We are therefore taking a lead in the planning process," he said.

But British Prime Minister Tony Blair told visiting U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell last week that Britain had not made any decision to send troops to Afghan or lead the peacekeeping forces there.

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