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Daily Telegraph January 3, 2002 Turks plan to take over from British By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent TURKEY expects to take command of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan when the British withdraw in three months, Ankara said yesterday. Britain agreed to lead the 4,500-strong force, which under its mandate can operate only in Kabul, but insisted that it could stay for only half of ISAF's six-month duration. The Turkish foreign ministry said its offer to take over had been "received positively" and the details of how that would take place were being worked out. Details of participants will not be disclosed until they have backed an agreement on how the force should operate, signed this week by Maj Gen John McColl, the British force commander, and Younus Qanooni, the Afghan interior minister. The deal came under fire after a senior British defence official admitted that it allowed the Northern Alliance to keep its troops in the capital and left the control of patrols on the ground unclear. An advance party of 30 officers from the 17 contributors, including Brig Barney White-Spunner, commander of the British contingent, arrived in Kabul yesterday to carry out reconnaissance. Lead elements of 2 Bn, the Parachute Regiment, which will form the main part of the 1,500-strong British contingent, are already in Kabul, the MoD said. The rest of the unit is expected to be in place by the weekend. Germany will supply 800 troops and France and Italy yesterday pledged several hundred each. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send your FREE holiday greetings online! http://greetings.yahoo.com ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
