The board of inquiry handling the military probe into Canada's handling of Afghan prisoners won't look into whether detainees were tortured or abused in custody, according to a report.
The investigation will only cover up to when Canadian soldiers release prisoners to Afghan authorities, a spokesman for the board wrote in a response to The Globe and Mail.
The scope of the investigation also excludes Canada's new monitoring arrangements with Afghan officials. The board said the probe's mandate limits its ability to dig any deeper.
Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan, Arif Lalani, told Canada AM he's waiting for the results of the Afghan government's investigation into allegations of prisoner abuse -- and he's confident he'll get reliable results.
"I trust the Afghan government. They have done investigations previously, and they have taken action on those investigations," Lalani said.
He also said the Canadian military is taking full advantage of new arrangements, made in May with the Afghan government, that allow them to keep a closer eye on detainees.
"We're doing regular monitoring, both in Kandahar and in Kabul, and we have had all of the access that is stipulated in our arrangement," Lalani said.
Although the board was originally ordered four months ago in the wake of claims that three detainees may have been abused by Canadian soldiers, the scope of allegations has grown significantly since then, The Globe and Mail reported.
It came after Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor admitted he had misled Parliament for nearly a year by claiming that the International Committee of the Red Cross would report back to Canada if it found abuse in Afghan prisons.
The Conservatives have insisted the International Red Cross will be informed of the results of the investigation by Afghan authorities, but the Red Cross said it had no such role and wasn't expecting a report of any kind.
Lalani said that he's waiting to see what the report says before he commits to making the results public.
"I want to wait for the findings to come and then I think we want to share the results with Canadians. I have been following it very closely," Lalani said.
The ambassador, who also served as Canada's ambassador to Iraq, said progress is being made to rebuilt the war-torn country -- and it won't remain unstable like Iraq.
"They're very different situations -- since we've been in (Afghanistan), we have a constitution, we have an elected president, and an elected parliament," Lalani said.
"The major difference is that the Afghan leadership and the Afghans want us to be there. "
He also made it clear that although Harper has said combat operations in Afghanistan will end in February of 2009, the date isn't written in stone.
"We're not planning to end the operations in 2009, we're focusing on getting the job that we have to do until 2009 done. Whether we end those operations is the is going to be up to Parliament," Lalani said.
"The first priority is to focus on governance, security and development -- and just get the job done that we've been doing for the last few years."
