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Advance peacekeeping team in Kabul

A peacekeeping force is expected to takeover from the U.S. military action

LONDON, England -- A British army general is expected in Afghanistan on Sunday at the head of a team preparing the way for a possible peacekeeping force.

The small reconnaissance party, to be led by Major General John McColl, was set to meet key ministers in the new Kabul interim administration in an attempt to persuade them to accept a significant foreign military presence on Afghan soil.

The urgent talks are part of an attempt by the United Nations to establish an advance force in Afghanistan before the interim administration, agreed during talks in Bonn, is set up on December 22.

A British defence ministry spokesman said: "We are sending a small international reconnaissance and liaison team to Kabul.

"Major General John McColl, commander 3 (UK) division, will lead the team that will also include representatives from the U.S., Canada and Italy."

The 12-strong team will assess the situation and make a recommendation on troop numbers for an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

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"They will discuss our proposals for an ISAF, its size and relationship with the interim authority, with leading Afghans such as the authority's chairman Hamid Karzai, the foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah and the defence minister General (Mohammad) Fahim," the spokesman said.

Interim defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Habeel said McColl was due to arrive on Sunday and would hold talks with both Karzai and Fahim. He gave no further details. Fahim has said no more than 1,000 peacekeepers will be needed in his country to provide security for the new administration.

Some contributors have been putting potential numbers at about 8,000.

The British spokesman repeated London's position that it was willing to lead a peacekeeping force. "We are committed to help rebuild a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.

"We are therefore taking a lead in the planning process."

The United States is cautious about committing its own troops as peacekeepers while the military campaign against Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers is in full swing.

The Americans did sit in on a meeting between military officials from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Jordan in London on Friday. But it is believed the force would operate under the auspices of the United Nations.

Attempts by Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel to claim the force would be an EU initiative was quickly cold-shouldered by European leaders.

Senior military figures from Britain, France, Germany, Canada, the U.S., Spain, Italy and Denmark as well as two Muslim nations Turkey and Jordan, met in London to discuss their likely participation.