Canadians in Afghanistan

Feb. 10 - Lt.-Gen. Rick Hillier takes command of the 6,000 person NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan but says Canadians will not operate outside of Kabul where they currently patrol.

Meanwhile, DNA testing should confirm or refute a Taliban claim that the bomber who killed Canadian soldier Cpl. Jamie Murphy last January 27 was in fact the son of a Canadian:

KABUL (AFP) - Photos of the head of a suicide bomber and DNA testing of his remains would be used to determine whether the man responsible for the deadly attack on a Canadian patrol was the son of a Canadian al-Qaeda member, an official said.

A Taliban spokesman has told AFP that the bomber, who walked up to a Canadian peacekeeping patrol on January 27, killing one soldier and a civilian, was Mohammad Abdullah, an Afghan from south eastern Khost province.

The spokesman claimed that Mohammad Abdullah is the son of a Canadian citizen from Egypt named Abdul Rehman who was killed in October during a Pakistani Army operation.

He could be referring to Ahmed Said Abdur Rehman Khadr, identified by Pakistani authorities in late January following DNA tests, but the Canadian defense ministry is still uncertain.

One of Khadr's five sons, Abdullah, has not been seen since the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

Meanwhile, the Khadr family will have to pay the expenses to bring the 14-year old son, Abdulkareem, to Canada. Abdulkareem was paralyzed when he was shot in the spine during a firefight with Pakistani forces and his Toronto family wish to bring him here:

The government official said authorities are limited in what they can do for Abdulkareem Khadr and would normally only consider assistance when all other possibilities of private funding are exhausted.

"This does not apply to him because the family as a whole had resettled in Pakistan. You don't start being interested in your Canadian citizenship simply because it suits your needs."

The young Khadr has lived outside Canada for at least five years, said the official, and it's doubtful he would even be eligible for the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.

"It's not an automatic resumption of medical coverage."

Khadr is a probably a stretcher case who will need medical escort and possibly a private plane or air ambulance, likely costing more than $30,000.

The father, Ahmed Said Abdur Rehman Khadr, was arrested in Pakistan in connection with the Egyptian embassy bombing in Islamabad but former PM Chretien personally intervened and secured his freedom in 1995.

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