New Zealand extends troop commitment to Afghanistan

Mar 12, 2007, 5:47 GMT

Wellington - New Zealand will maintain a 120-strong defence force on reconstruction work in Afghanistan at least until September 2008, Prime Minister Helen Clark announced on Monday.

She said the Provisional Reconstruction Team (PRT) that had worked in Bamyan Province since September 2003 would remain as New Zealand's contribution to the 37-nation mission rebuilding the shattered state.

'The objective is to ensure that Afghanistan does not revert to being a failed state and again become a haven for terrorists,' she said.

The announcement came a week before Clark flies to Washington to reassure President George W Bush of New Zealand's commitment to the international war on terrorism.

Her Labour Party-led coalition, which has governed since 1999, refused to join Bush's invasion of Iraq and military co-operation remains limited because of United States opposition to New Zealand's anti-nuclear policy.

The US stripped New Zealand of its long-time ally status and curtailed defence ties 11 years ago after a former Labour government declared the country nuclear-free and passed laws banning nuclear-armed and -powered ships from its ports.

Clark has been at pains to normalise relations between the two countries with sustained contributions to international peacekeeping efforts and although ties have improved officials say that significant restrictions remain.

She said the deployment to Afghanistan, which includes five officers at the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters in Kabul, two soldiers helping train the Afghan army and four police officers training the national police, was a major commitment for a small country like New Zealand.

Clark also announced that a New Zealand frigate would join the Maritime Interdiction Operation (MIO) in the Arabian Gulf for a month in mid-2008.