KANDAHAR - The general in charge of Canadian troops in Afghanistan says he would be willing to provide safe passage to Taliban members to let them take part in peace talks.
Brig.-Gen. Dean Milner says that if asked, the Canadian military would allow insurgents to travel to Kabul where preliminary peace talks are underway with the Afghan government.
NATO military officials acknowledged recently they had secured transport for insurgent leaders, allowing them to sit down with Afghan government representatives.
"I think that this is an excellent initiative," Milner told reporters during a news conference that allowed reporters in Ottawa to participate via video link.
"If we were tasked with something like this from our chain of command, absolutely (we would agree)."
"It has not come that far yet," he added.
Milner says the Canadian military backs Afghan President Hamid Karzai's efforts to reach out to the Taliban.
Earlier Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper also threw his support behind Afghan attempts to reconcile with the insurgents.
"It has always been our position that that is part of an eventual solution, and that it's not simply military action alone," Harper told reporters while travelling in Switzerland.
The prime minister stressed that Canada's support for any kind of settlement with the Taliban is dependent on several conditions.
The Taliban must agree to respect the Afghan constitution and lay down their arms, Harper said. "Any agreement along those lines would be something that Canada would strongly support," he said.
Canada has 2,800 troops based in Afghanistan, mainly in the southern province of Kandahar.
