Most Afghans want foreign troops to stay: poll

THE STANS

Azerbaijani lawmakers approve doubling troops in Afghanistan
Lawmakers in the ex-Soviet republic of Azerbaijan approved plans on Friday to double the number of Azerbaijani troops serving with NATO-led forces in Afghanistan from 22 to 44. Parliament voted 86-2 in support of the increase, which Deputy Speaker Ziyafat Askarov said had been requested by the NATO military alliance. NATO leads the 37,000-strong International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) fighting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Azerbaijani soldiers are deployed in western Afghanistan, where they provide security for reconstruction efforts. Azerbaijan, a predominantly Muslim country wedged between Russia and Iran, has contributed small numbers of forces to Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo as President Ilham Aliyev seeks closer ties with the West.

by Staff Writers
Montreal (AFP) Oct 19, 2007
Most Afghans see NATO troops' presence in their country as positive, and want them to stay, a poll published in Canadian media Friday found.

The survey done by the company Environics for CBC, The Globe and Mail and La Presse, questioned more than 1,500 Afghans.

According to the survey 60 percent of those polled saw the presence of foreign troops in their country as positive while 16 percent saw it as a bad thing.

In the south, in the Kandahar region, where the presence of Taliban is stronger than in the north, the percentage of people opposed to NATO troops' presence is higher at 23 percent but 61 percent still are in favor.

Fourteen percent of those surveyed said they wanted foreign troops out immediately.

According to Environics, 38 percent said they thought foreign troops should be in their country for periods of 1-5 years, and 43 percent said they should stay as long as it takes to defeat the Taliban and restore order.

A large majority, 73 percent, said they had a very or rather negative view of the Taliban.

Fifty-one percent of those polled said their country was headed in the right direction (48 percent in the Kandahar area) while 73 percent said conditions for women had improved.

Only 40 percent said they believed that with foreign support the Afghan government would defeat the Taliban. Twenty-nine percent said it was too early to say, and 19 percent believe the Taliban will be back in power once foreign troops pull out.

The poll of 1,578 people was taken September 17-24. It has a margin of errpr of 3.8 percent.

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THE STANS

Japan's ruling party backs smaller Afghan mission

Tokyo (AFP) Oct 17, 2007
Japan's ruling party approved a bill Wednesday to scale back support for US-led forces in Afghanistan but the move was unlikely to placate the opposition, which wants to end the mission entirely.

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