On May 12, Darcy Knoll and Scott Taylor sat down with Omar Samad, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Canada, for an in-depth interview about the state of affairs in his homeland. What follows is a brief excerpt of that conversation.

Esprit de Corps: Thank you very much for taking the time to meet with us. First of all, could you walk us through the state of the Afghan army, how fully deployed they are now and their inter-cooperation with the Afghan police forces?

Omar Samad: The Afghan National Army’s reform started about three years ago. …

ـ 31 می 2006

Ottawa – The Embassy of Afghanistan in Canada is dismayed by disparaging and unfounded
remarks made Monday, May 29, by Hon. Senator Peter A. Stollery, about the democratically
elected President of Afghanistan.

“As my country’s envoy, I strongly object to the irresponsible remarks made by Senator
Stollery about the democratically-elected President of Afghanistan during a Senate
Committee debate Monday,” said Ambassador Omar Samad.

La Chambre des communes vient d'approuver un prolongement de la mission canadienne en Afghanistan jusqu'en février 2009. Dans un entretien accordé au Devoir, l'ambassadeur afghan au Canada, Omar Samad, justifie la présence du Canada dans son pays pour y poursuivre l'avancée démocratique .

Ottawa - «L'Afghanistan vaut la peine.» C'est par ce cri du coeur qu'Omar Samad espère convaincre les Québécois que la mission canadienne doit s'y poursuivre et que la population doit en être fière.

Ottawa – President Hamed Karzai called Prime Minister Stephen Harper Sunday to thank him for Canada’s decision to extend the military mission to Afghanistan for two years beyond the current commitment.

During the 10-minute long phone conversation, the Afghan President expressed his condolences to all Canadians for Captain Nichola Goddard’s death in southern Afghanistan. She was killed in battle against terrorists last week.

The two leaders agreed that the fight against terrorism requires strong resolve and the active co-operation of all nations. President Karzai asked that the Prime Minister convey to Parliamentarians the Afghan people’s gratitude for their support of the current UN-mandated mission in Afghanistan, as well as for last week’s motion to extend the mission.

President Karzai also thanked Canada for providing additional development aid amounting to CAN $310 million for the period 2010-2011 to help rebuild Afghanistan.

Accepting an invitation previously conveyed by the Prime Minister, the Afghan leader thanked him and confirmed that he will visit Canada later this year.

The two leaders met in March 2006 in Kabul during Prime Minister Harper’s visit to Afghanistan

The Canadian role in leading combat missions in the Kandahar region of southern Afghanistan — the original home of the former Taliban rulers — stirs strong emotion across this country, as evidenced Wednesday by two controversial events thousands of kilometres apart.

First, the Conservatives sprang a snap debate and vote in the Commons on the question of extending the mission by two years until February, 2009. The ploy almost backfired when the Bloc Québécois, the NDP and most Liberals voted against the motion. In the end, today's Globe reports that Harper's motion to extend mission squeaked through with Liberal help.

دوشنبه 28 ثور 1385 برابر به 18 می 2006 میلادی

اوتاوا – عدۀ از افغانهای مقیم کانادا بروز چهارشنبه 17 ماه می در مقابل عمارت پارلمان کانادا تظاهراتی را به جانبداری از دوام مأموریت امنیتی کانادا در افغانستان براه انداختند. ـ

همزمان با تدویر اجلاس پارلمان برای بحث و رأی گیری، تعدادی از افغانهای مقیم شهرهای اوتاوا و مونتریال، ضمن اجتماع چهار ساعته با سردادن شعارهائی ضمن قدردانی از کمکهای بشردوستانه و شرکت فعال این کشور در بازسازی و کمک در ایجاد امنیت در افغانستان، خواستار تداوم این کمکها و همچنین تمدید مدت حضور عساکر کانادائی در افغانستان شدند. ـ

Ottawa - The Embassy of Afghanistan in Canada expresses sorrow upon hearing news of the 17 th Canadian casualty in Afghanistan.

“Afghans are very sorry to hear that Captain Nichola Goddard was killed in combat near Kandahar just hours before a parliamentary debate in Canada on the extension of the mission,” said Afghan Ambassador Omar Samad.

“It is even more poignant, in light of the fact that Capt. Goddard was the first Canadian female combat soldier to be killed in action,” he added.

“On behalf of all peace-loving Afghans, I extend our heartfelt sympathy to the family, colleagues, and friends of Capt. Goddard, as well as to the Canadian people and Government,” said Amb. Samad.

Embassy of Afghanistan - May 18, 2006

Dans une entrevue accordée à la télévision de Radio-Canada, M. Samad a reconnu que la mission était dangereuse. Toutefois, il a dit vouloir convaincre les Canadiens de son bien-fondé, et leur permettre de faire la différence entre l'intervention en Afghanistan et celle des Américains en Irak.