Canada says NATO has not found needed troops yet

CALGARY, Alberta, Nov 15 (Reuters) NATO needs another 1,500 troops for its Afghanistan mission and so far does not know which members of the alliance will supply them, Canada's defense minister said today.

Most recently, Poland pledged another 1,000 personnel to help quell a revived Taliban insurgency, 40 percent of what the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's top commander called for in September. The force currently numbers more than 30,000.

Canadian Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor said he does not know what countries will supply the extra troops, but pointed out NATO defense staff chiefs were meeting in Brussels and suggested more might be decided there.

One thing that is certain, however, is Canada will not provide the extra personnel, O'Connor said. The country has about 2,500 troops in Kandahar province.

''We've just sent 450 soldiers over there, so we're doing our part,'' he told reporters after giving a speech to a business audience.

O'Connor is on a cross-country speaking tour to help shore up support at home for the mission. Opinion polls have shown Canadians are increasingly pessimistic about the future of the conflict and divided over Canada's role in the region.

He said attacks by Taliban have eased in the past two weeks, partly because many of the leaders were killed in recent fierce fighting in the Kandahar area.

Reuters PDS VP0342