Murray McCully

Wellington, June 18 NZPA - A review into New Zealand's commitment in Afghanistan should be completed in the next couple of months, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says.

The review began when the Government announced earlier this year it would roll over New Zealand's army presence in Afghanistan until September 2010.

New Zealand has around 140 defence personnel in Afghanistan.

The review was ordered because of the pressure put on the armed forces by rollovers in areas such as Afghanistan and East Timor and the new United States administration's own review of its role in Afghanistan.

There was also a change in the thinking of Nato members to look at the whole region rather than focusing on Afghanistan and Pakistan and to increase a civilian presence rather than a military one, Mr McCully told Parliament's foreign affairs committee.

"We wanted to feed all of those factors into our review process."