OTTAWA - The Canadian government has expressed regret over South Korea's decision to negotiate a hostage release with the Taliban.
With a presence in Afghanistan that comprises 2,300 soldiers, as well as development officials, diplomats, and non-government workers, Canada reacted with caution to the news.
In a carefully crafted response delivered late Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier's office expressed disapproval of South Korean's handling of the crisis.
"We do not negotiate with terrorists, for any reason,'' said a statement issued by Bernier's office.
"Such negotiations, even if unsuccessful, only lead to further acts of terrorism.''
Bernier was shuffled into the Foreign Affairs portfolio this month and touted as an ideal point man for communicating with Canadians -- especially Quebecers -- about the mission in Afghanistan.
Taliban militants released 12 of 19 South Korean missionary aid workers on Wednesday, with the rest to be freed over the next 48 hours.
Under the deal reached Tuesday, South Korea reaffirmed a pledge it made before the hostage crisis began to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by year's end. Seoul also said it would prevent South Korean Christian missionaries from working in the Muslim country.
The agreement was controversial because the Afghan government was not party to the talks. Critics say the Taliban could emerge with enhanced political legitimacy for negotiating successfully with a foreign government.
Norine MacDonald, president of the Senlis Council, a policy think-tank opposed to the eradication of the Afghan poppy crop, said the deal was disconcerting.
`That is very concerning,'' she said. "It's almost outrageous that should be going on ... It shows a loss of control over parts of Afghanistan.''
Kevin McCort, interim CEO of CARE Canada, said his organization followed the hostage situation closely.
"We've actually had some experience with kidnapping of our staff in Afghanistan and elsewhere, so it's something that we take very seriously,'' McCort said.
McCort said CARE takes what it calls an acceptance and integration approach in Afghanistan and the other countries where it has a presence. Workers gain protection of local communities by keeping them informed and getting their acceptance. They also live in those communities and employ a lot of local staff.
"We don't need to change our practice because what they (the South Korean missionaries) did, we would never do,'' he said.
"If you look at what we do in terms of our acceptance and integration strategies, sending a busload of people down to Kandahar is neither of those ... We feel that our staff and safety precautions are fairly good so we're not really looking at learning much from their experience.''
CARE has not had a presence in the some of the most volatile regions in southern Afghanistan, such as Kandahar or Helmand province since at least 2001.
The organization has been working in the somewhat unstable regions of Ghazni and Paktika province, but has had to constrain operations over concerns of staff safety.
CARE has been in Afghanistan since the 1960s and the only time it pulled out was in the 1980s during the height of the Soviet occupation, McCort said.
"We were actively working in Afghanistan during the entire period of Taliban rule,''' he said.
"It takes an awful lot for us to leave the country.
"We have left Iraq. That was just simply impossible to continue working there.''
