Canada and Afghanistan are diplomatic partners once again. Deputy Prime Minister John Manley says Ottawa re-established diplomatic relations with Afghanistan following an exchange in Kabul on Friday.

"The re-establishment of diplomatic ties with Afghanistan underscores Canada's support for the interim administration and our commitment to continue working closely with officials in Kabul to rebuild the country and improve the lives of its citizens," Manley said.

"We hope that the interim administration will quickly lay the foundations for representative government, the rule of law, respect for human rights and sound economic policies."

Canada severed diplomatic ties with Afghanistan when the Soviets invaded the country in 1979. Ottawa did not establish diplomatic relations with any the regimes that took power in Kabul after the Soviets left in 1989.

Since 1990, Canada has provided Afghanistan with $160 million in humanitarian assistance, including $16 million which was disbursed in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks. Canada recently pledged another $100 million in aid for Afghanistan at a conference in Toyko.

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said that re-establishing ties with Afghanistan was a critical step in opening communications between the two countries.

"Canada believes that the interim administration offers the best hope to end the civil conflict, oppressive rule and suffering that the Afghan people have endured for so long," Graham said.

Manley backs reconstruction efforts

Manley is on a tour of south and central Asia and made the comments after an unexpected appearance at a news conference in Kabul attended by Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Annan called on the world community to support Afghanistan's reconstruction while staying out of its internal affairs. The UN chief is in Afghanistan for meetings with the country's interim leadership and commanders of the British-led peacekeeping force.

Annan is expected to push efforts for greater stability in a country decimated by more than two decades of war. He was welcomed to Kabul by an honour guard of mine clearance experts wearing blue coveralls.

Mine-clearing is one of the UN's top priorities as it will allow people displaced by fighting to return home and plant their fields. But the biggest task of the world body is helping the interim administration draw up a commission to select a loya jirga.

The loya jirga, or tribal grand council, will select a government to rule Afghanistan for 18 months, with elections to follow. Selecting a loya jirga is already proving to be a difficult task with countless tribes and clan jockeying for position.

The 21-member commission that will convene the loya jirga was named on Friday. The members were chosen from a list of more than 300 people.