There were more signals at a NATO meeting today in Brussels, that Canada should be getting help for its troops in war-torn southern Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said Canada will end its military role if NATO allies don't ante up 1,000 additional troops to serve in the volatile Kandahar region.
It looks more and more likely that France could provide those extra troops. The country is sending additional troops to Afghanistan in the near future but has not declared to which region it would be sending them.
"The choice has not been made between the east and Kandahar," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters.
"We are aware both of the needs of Kandahar in the south and of the east. The final decision will lie with President Nicolas Sarkozy and the army."
Even if French troops are not posted in Kandahar, it is thought that they could free up other troops in Afghanistan to be moved there to assist Canada.
Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier was bullish that NATO has moved beyond discussing Canada's demand, to discussing logistics. He said that Canada should have a decision in the "near future."
"I hope that we'll be able to have a decision on that in the near future," Bernier said.
U.S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the U.S. stands by NATO's commitment in Afghanistan.
"We believe that the alliance has an obligation to deliver on that because this is a NATO mission," she said. "This is not a Canadian mission, or a Danish mission or an American mission."
"It's a NATO mission."
Before the meeting even began, British Foreign Minister David Miliband suggested that he's confident the troops will be provided and Canada will be able to maintain its commitment, CTV's London Bureau Chief Tom Kennedy said.
"The British foreign minister said going into this morning that it's going well," Kennedy told CTV's Canada AM, reporting from Brussels.
"He implied in fact there will be a solution, which is no surprise because what we've been hearing out of NATO over the past couple of months has been reasonably positive."
But a breakthrough is unlikely at this set of informal meetings. NATO has an important full summit meeting early next month, where the alliance will discuss approving three new members.
While Canada's demand will be on the backburner at the summit, it is expected that a NATO decision will be made by the time that meeting ends.
With a report from CTV's Tom Kennedy
