Harper, Dion mum after brief meeting on Afghan mission

Prime Minister Stephen Harper held a key meeting with Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion Tuesday to try to persuade the Liberals to support a conditional extension of Canada's military mission in Afghanistan.

The two leaders disclosed little after their 25-minute talk in the Prime Minister's Office in Ottawa.

Officials at the PMO would only say that Harper stressed to Dion that he is supporting the Manley report, which recommends that Canada only extend its mission beyond the scheduled February 2009 withdrawal date if NATO provides more troops and support, specifically in the violent southern region.

Harper commissioned the report, which was released in late January by a five-member team led by former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley.

The CBC's Susan Bonner, reporting from Ottawa, said the PMO's office would give no further details.

"We got even less from the Liberals," she said.

Bonner said the Liberal Party would only say that Dion will be briefing his caucus about his meeting on Wednesday.

Dion, scrummed by reporters before the meeting, reiterated his party's current position on the mission, stressing that the Liberals do not want to see the combat mission extended beyond the 2009 deadline.

The Liberals have suggested they are open to having troops refocused on training, reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan after 2009.

The NDP and Bloc Québécois both want a speedy end to the mission.

Harper has promised a parliamentary vote on any extension of the mission. Dion said Monday his party will cast a united vote.

"It will be a vote of the party, obviously."

Meanwhile, Harper called French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday to brief him on the Manley report. He made similar phone calls to U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last week.

Dion and Layton disagree

Dion met Monday with NDP Leader Jack Layton, who argued the United Nations should take responsibility for the Afghan mission.

"We could draw on those principles I assume we shared — Pearsonian principles where Canada plays a role to engineer peace using the UN as a fundamental institution created for exactly that purpose," said Layton.

Dion told reporters after the meeting that he and Layton effectively agreed to disagree.

"We reiterated our different positions," he said. "I think the UN will never accept to do this mission if NATO is not there."

Layton said Canadians are looking at "two paths forward" when it comes to Afghanistan.

"We have the Manley-Harper way forward, which is a continuation of the war without any end really in sight, or the approach which we've put forward, which is a path towards peace which uses the skills and talents and capacities of the United Nations."