The importance of more civilian personnel in Afghanistan was among the topics discussed during a meeting in Washington on Tuesday between Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton talks with Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon on Tuesday at the State Department in Washington. (J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press)

Cannon said civilians from aid organizations and the RCMP have been used in Kandahar to help train Afghan national police and help with border management. They have also been involved in reconstruction and development work.

Cannon said he told his counterpart that Canada welcomed the additional U.S. troop deployment in the south and that he expected the two countries to work closely together in Kandahar.

"I also reinforced the need for additional civilians in the field as key to Afghanistan achieving its goals of governance and self reliance," Cannon told reporters after the meeting. "In the light of Canada's experience in Kandahar, I also offered to share the lessons Canada has learned."

He said he told Clinton that Canada has ramped up its use of civilian personnel.

Most of Canada's 2,800 troops in Afghanistan are currently in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan.

U.S. President Barack Obama has said he wants to send 30,000 additional American soldiers to Afghanistan. Last week, he approved adding about 17,000 U.S. troops to the troubled region.

During his visit to Ottawa, Obama stressed that he did not press Prime Minister Stephen Harper to extend Canada’s combat role in Afghanistan, slated to end in 2011.

"We did not go into anything beyond 2011, beyond the present mandate that the government of Canada has," Cannon said about his meeting with Clinton.

Clinton, Cannon discuss Khadr

Cannon also said he brought up the case of Canadian Omar Khadr — accused of murder in the death of a U.S. soldier during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002 — and being held at the naval prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

He said the case was raised in the context of Obama's directive to shut down the prison within a year

"I wanted to get an idea from Secretary Clinton as to what the steps forward were to be, and secretary Clinton gave me a brief description of where this process was probably going to lead in the coming months," he said, without elaborating.

But Cannon added he gave no indication to Clinton about whether Canada would repatriate Khadr.

"This individual is, allegedly, a murderer," he said.

"I have indicated today the government of Canada fully respects the process that the American government has put forward, and we will await the outcome of that process before anything takes place."

With files from the Canadian Press