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New Zealand Mulls Early Withdrawal of Troops from Afghanistan
New Zealand Mulls Early Withdrawal of Troops from Afghanistan
2012-04-18 12:31:48 Xinhua Web Editor: yangyang66
Indications that New Zealand might pull its troops out of Afghanistan earlier than the stated 2014 deadline have spurred calls for them to come home.
Radio New Zealand reported Wednesday that Prime Minister John Key said it was possible that the 140 New Zealand troops in the Bamyan Provincial Reconstruction Team might come home before 2014 if NATO agreed with the arrangement.
Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully is currently in Brussels attending a NATO/ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) Foreign and Defence Ministers meeting to discuss the transfer of security responsibility from the international coalition to the government of Afghanistan.
McCully told Radio New Zealand Wednesday there should be an announcement about the future of New Zealand's involvement in Afghanistan the next few weeks.
Bamyan was likely to be one of the first provinces where the transition to local control was completed, said McCully.
"Quite how quickly that will happen is something that I'll get a closer fix on over the next few days here in Brussels," he said.
"We're certainly getting signals that it will be earlier than had been expected."
Foreign Affairs spokesperson for New Zealand's main opposition Labour Party, Phil Goff, said it was time for New Zealand soldiers to complete their jobs and come home.
"By 2013, New Zealand troops in Bamyan will have completed 10 years and 24 rotations in the Provincial Reconstruction Team. It's now time for New Zealand to wind up its role over the next 12 months and to bring our troops home," said Goff.
"We were amongst the first countries to set up a PRT and have largely met the objectives in that province which we set out to achieve," Goff said in a statement.
"We've had the good fortune of working with Governor Sarabi and her administration, which is one of the most competent and honest provincial governments. That and the support of local people in Bamyan has made our task easier.
"Our work in providing stability, in training the local police force and assisting in development of road, school and hospital construction and in agriculture have all helped the local people.
"Bamyan should be one of the first provinces to implement an exit strategy for international troops. It will be ready for that to happen."
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Tuesday laid out plans for an early withdrawal of Australian troops, saying they could leave Afghanistan next year rather than by 2014.
New Zealand is making the 20th rotation of its forces in Afghanistan this month, with the deployment of a fresh 140-strong contingent for the PRT.
The focus of the team is to be security and training of the Afghan National Police.
The PRT was deployed to Bamyan province in 2003 and the government had previously said it was committed to maintaining the force until 2014.
The province was the first to return to the control of Afghan forces last year.
New Zealand's special forces unit, the Special Air Service Group, ended their deployment in Afghanistan last month.
Two New Zealand special forces soldiers were killed in attacks in Kabul last year, and three member of the PRT have died in Afghanistan.