Canada aims to route supplies from Afghanistan through Pakistan - The Globe and Mail
Canada aims to route supplies from Afghanistan through Pakistan
STEVEN CHASE
OTTAWA— From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010 12:34PM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010 11:32PM EDT
Canada has asked conflict-ridden Pakistan for permission to ship supplies home through Karachi as part of a 2011 military pullout from Afghanistan − an exit that’s more complicated now that Canadian soldiers are being evicted from a Mideast air base.
Mian Gul Akbar Zeb, Pakistan’s high commissioner to Canada, said Ottawa has requested approval to start as early as June, 2011. It would amount to ferrying “non-sensitive” military supplies such as tents over land from Kandahar, Afghanistan. The shortest distance to Pakistan’s port city of Karachi by road is about 900 kilometres, but the threat of militant attacks makes longer routes necessary at times.
Canada’s exit from Afghanistan has been complicated by the United Arab Emirates’ decision last week to order Canada to vacate a covert logistical base that it has used since 2001 to bring soldiers and cargo in and out of Afghanistan. The Dubai base, Camp Mirage, is about 1,200 kilometres from Kandahar.
The withdrawal is Canada’s biggest military pullout since troops left Germany after the Cold War.
Mr. Zeb said an agreement for road shipments has yet to be signed, and matters such as how to safeguard the convoys have to be worked out.
Canadian officials have also considered asking to use a Pakistani air base as a replacement supply hub, Ottawa sources say. But they added that the country is not high on the list of alternatives to Camp Mirage. It’s far more likely Canada will site a new forward base for Afghanistan-bound soldiers somewhere such as Cyprus, sources say, with cargo flown in via Germany.
Canada’s agreement to use the UAE base expired over the summer, and the Arab federation exercised a 30-day eviction rule last week after the countries were unable to reach a deal to extend it. The UAE had sought more lucrative landing rights for two-state backed carriers in Canada, a request strongly opposed by Air Canada and the federal Transport Department.
Canada is supposed to vacate the UAE by Nov. 5, but both sides are talking about a possible extension.
The chill in relations, however, continues. The UAE is Canada’s largest export market in the Mideast, but International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan skipped it during a tour of the region this week. His itinerary includes Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.
Mr. Van Loan blamed Canadian politics for his failure to stop in the UAE, saying he had to be home by Monday, when the minority Harper government will face the opposition again in the Commons. Parliament resumes after the Thanksgiving break on Oct. 18.
