Afghan President Hamid Karzai was set to visit Canada from 21 to 23 September 2006, following his attendance at the UN General Assembly in New York. His ambassador to Ottawa, Omar Samad, said Karzai planned to appeal for continued financial assistance and address Canadian uncertainty about the country's military role in Afghanistan.
Speaking to parliament on 23 September, Karzai was expected to offer greater clarity on the international reconstruction and stabilization effort. Samad noted the visit as an opportunity to re-examine the mission's many dimensions, though he stressed that debate over Canada's military involvement should remain a matter for Canadian lawmakers.
Public support for the Afghan mission had slipped, with a recent survey showing only 38 percent of Canadians backing the deployment of roughly 2,300 troops. The leftist New Democratic Party had already passed a motion urging withdrawal from Kandahar province. Thirty-six Canadian soldiers and one senior diplomat had died in Afghanistan since 2002.
Canada has committed around one billion Canadian dollars in aid to Afghanistan since 2001, making it the largest recipient of Canadian foreign assistance. Karzai also planned to ask that a greater share of international aid flow directly through the Afghan government rather than through UN agencies and non-governmental organizations.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in September 2006, in its own words.