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Britain to Lead U.N. Afghan Force
LONDON, Dec. 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Britain is preparing to lead an international force to stabilize Afghanistan for a three-month period during the launch of the interim government, amid "some slight difference of emphasis between the U.S. and the U.K." over the "war on terror", news agencies reported.
British defense sources suggested Tuesday the first troops from a multinational security force could deploy later this week or early next week. Up to 3,000 British troops could be dispatched to the region in what is likely to be the lead contingent of the U.N.-sanctioned peacekeeping force, reported BBC's online news service.
British involvement in the United Nations-backed "stabilization force" for Afghanistan, including three battalions of troops and armored vehicles, will be announced later this week, government sources indicated late Monday, reported British daily newspaper,
The Independent.
British officials wanted to announce the deployment Tuesday to coincide with the third month after September 11 and the visit to London of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. But discussions with the interim authority in Afghanistan have delayed the statement because of concerns about the make-up of the force, the paper reported.
The Northern Alliance, holding power in Afghanistan, caused a controversy when it insisted it would not withdraw all its soldiers from Kabul, despite a pledge at an historic inter-Afghan accord to demilitarize the city before the deployment of peacekeepers, BBC reported.
In the first clear sign of resistance to the proposed force, a top aide to Afghan Defense Minister General Mohammad Qasim Fahim said the peacekeepers would not be allowed to patrol Kabul. That, he said, was a task reserved for Afghan security forces.
Meanwhile, British Chief of the Defense Staff, Admiral Michael Boyce, hinted Tuesday at the divergence between the two main members of the alliance on what to do after the defeat of the Taliban, BBC reported.
Speculation is growing that the U.S. will attack Iraq as part of the war on terror.
It is not known whether Saddam Hussein's regime has been developing weapons of mass destruction since the departure of U.N. weapons inspectors left in 1998.
But many fear an attack on Iraq could destabilize the region, drawing in neutral countries and stretching the allied coalition to breaking point.
Critics of U.S. policy want the allies to concentrate on helping Afghanistan rebuild its infrastructure. Boyce told the Royal United Services Institute that terrorism could only be defeated by winning "hearts and minds".
Boyce also warned of excessive optimism about successes against the Taliban.
He reminded the audience that the war was not conventional and could not be measured in territory won. Politicians and the media should take a longer-term view of events on the ground where the situation could often be tenuous, he said.
"Simple victory over the Taliban is not the end stake that we seek," said Boyce.
"We must continue to focus on the enemy rather than on the ground taken."
He said Britain had to make a choice which it could not dodge - either broadening the war or concentrating on aid and rebuilding in Afghanistan.
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