Feb 13, 2007, 11:43 GMT
Oslo - Norway announced Tuesday it would deploy an additional 150-strong special forces contingent in Afghanistan.
The decision was announced in parliament by Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store and Defence Minister Anne-Grete Strom-Erichsen and marked the end of an internal tug of war in the ruling red-green coalition that has gone on since last year.
Store said the additional troops would be based in the Afghan capital Kabul, adding that 'there will be no further (troop) contributions during 2007.'
Afghanistan faced a series of combined challenges including poverty, a weak state, and high crime rates, Store said.
In addition to contributing troops, Norway would continue to provide humanitarian aid and expected to allocate 450 million kroner (72 million dollars) for these programmes in 2007, second only to the Palestinian Territories, the foreign minister said.
The current Norwegian force operates in northern Afghanistan, including the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Junior coalition partner, the Socialist Left Party, initially opposed increasing the 400-strong force but accepted the decision since the new forces would not be deployed in southern Afghanistan where NATO-led forces have engaged Taliban fighters, party officials said.
Political observers said Socialist Left Party leader Kristin Halvorsen, who is also finance minister, was still likely to face criticism from dissenting party members.
Siv Jensen, leader of the opposition Progress Party, welcomed the deployment, adding it was a 'defeat' for the Socialist Left Party and ended doubts about NATO member Norway's stance.
Erna Solberg, leader of the opposition Conservatives, also welcomed the move by the red-green coalition that includes Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's Labour Party, the Centre Party and the Socialist Left Party.
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GooseFeb 14th, 2007 - 06:26:48
At least the Norwegiens are not as gutless and pathetic as the Germans.
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