John Key

By Sharon Lundy of NZPA

Wellington, Aug 11 NZPA - Prime Minister John Key is urging the Labour Party to put aside politics and support his Government's deployment of Special Air Services (SAS) troops to Afghanistan.

Mr Key yesterday announced the deployment -- the fourth of SAS troops to Afghanistan -- and said it had been a "difficult" decision.

The two major political parties have generally agreed on defence deployments in recent years but in a departure from that convention, Labour leader Phil Goff today said his party did not support the deployment.

The best way to win the conflict in Afghanistan was by winning over the people, and the New Zealand Defence Force's 140-strong provincial reconstruction team (PRT) in Bamyan Province was doing that, he said.

"The concerns that we have with the SAS don't relate to the competency of the SAS itself but rather what it requires to win this conflict at the present time," he said.

"We are not in the situation we were in earlier in the 21st century where this was a battle with al Qaeda. This has fast moved in the direction of being a civil war."

But Mr Key said Afghanistan continued to be at the root of international terrorism.

"This, for me, is not an issue of politics," he said.

"It's a serious issue of how we get on top of a country which has become more unstable and which is the breeding ground of international terrorism, and I think we need to deal with it.

"... these are New Zealanders who are putting their lives on the line to make the world a more safe and stable place.

"It's never too late, and I'd encourage Mr Goff and the Labour Party to support our actions."

The deployment will be the fourth of SAS troops, and a commitment has been made to maintain about 70 personnel for up to 18 months, in three rotations.

"It's a difficult decision. There's no getting away from the fact that Afghanistan is a dangerous place," Mr Key said.

The deployment would be in the "foreseeable future" but Mr Key kept with convention in refusing to say when, or where, the elite troops would go.

Parallel to the SAS deployment would be the gradual withdrawal of the PRT, which has been in Bamyan province since 2003.

The PRT would be withdrawn during the next three to five years and by the time it left, New Zealand would have had a presence in Afghanistan for 14 years.

The United States had made repeated requests for the SAS to return to Afghanistan and Mr Key had indicated during a meeting with a senior US representative at last week's Pacific Islands Forum that "it was likely this decision would be reached".

"I think that they are supportive, obviously, and grateful that New Zealand is playing its part," he said.

Mr Key also announced there would be greater New Zealand civilian involvement in Afghanistan, particularly in agriculture, health and education sectors.

An ambassador would be appointed to support that work, based in Kabul.

Green MP Kennedy Graham said the SAS should stay at home as New Zealand was not at war -- "with terrorists or anyone else".

"All deployments of our armed forces should be in self-defence or explicitly authorised by the United Nations Security Council," he said.

"The US request fails both tests. The SAS should stay at home."