Canada says changing Afghan focus to training

CHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island, Aug 1 (Reuters) Canada's troops in Afghanistan will increasingly spend the last 18 months of their assignment training Afghan soldiers so they can operate effectively once western forces leave, beleaguered Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said today.

O'Connor also criticized Canadian journalists, accusing them of twisting his words to imply he was arguing with the chief of the defense staff over how quickly the Afghans can be trained.

Canada's 2,600-strong military mission in the southern city of Kandahar is due to end in February 2009 and the minority Conservative government says an extension is very unlikely, given rising domestic opposition to the idea.

This prompts the question of who will maintain security in the region once the Canadians have gone.

''In the 18 months we have left ... there will be more and more emphasis on operational training of the Afghan army,'' O'Connor told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of Conservative legislators.

''We are trying to make the security forces of Afghanistan in our area as effective as possible.'' Canada has lost 66 soldiers so far in Afghanistan and Ottawa regularly complains that it is bearing too much of the military burden.

''I'd love thousands more NATO troops in the south and the east but I'm not waiting for that, we're not waiting for that. We are training the Afghan army to take over their responsibilities,'' O'Connor said.

Asked whether the Afghan army would be in a position to take over in February 2009, O'Connor said he did not know.

The retired general, who has borne the brunt of criticism over perceived problems with the mission, denied he and Chief of the Defence Staff Rick Hillier were arguing over how quickly the Afghan troops could be trained.

The two men made separate comments last month in which O'Connor seemed much more optimistic than Hillier.

''I don't make this stuff up,'' O'Connor said in emphasizing that he and Hillier were speaking from the same page.

''There's not an iota of difference between General Hillier and myself but you guys continue to try to create these differences and it doesn't assist,'' he said.

Reuters RS DB2349