Canada''s opposition Liberal Party supports keeping troops in Afghanistan but not for combat missions, party leaders have
said.
"We wanted to see with our eyes and hear with our ears what more we can do, how to continue to help Afghanistan after February 2009 with other missions, other development projects," other than combat, party president Stephane Dion told a press conference.
"We are here to see how we can contribute," party number two Michael Ignatieff added. Canada''s parliament has voted to keep its 2,500 troops in Afghanistan until 2009 while considering its future policy.
Seventy-six Canadian troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban.
Dion and Ignatieff visited Kandahar in the troubled south where Canadian troops are fighting Taliban militants alongside US and British forces.
They were received in Kabul by President Hamid Karzai, parliamentary speaker Yunus Qanuni and NATO ambassadors.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently reiterated his support for the military mission until 2011. But the mission has currently an official expiration date of February 2009.