Canada's PM Harper speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa
Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa June 18, 2014. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

Canada is actively considering a request placed by the U.S. to join its ongoing campaign in the Middle East. The U.S, government had requested Canada to support its campaign against Islamist rebels in Iraq and Syria. Prime Minister Stephen Harper told media in New York that his government is studying the possibility of an extended military role in the Middle East. An announcement on this matter can be expected soon, Mr Harper indicated. The Canadian prime minister also expressed his full support to the US -led air strikes in Syria, reports Ca. News.

Decision Soon

On joining the campaign, mr Harper said, "Canada will need some additional debate needed within our government before taking the final decision." Mr Harper said a civilised world cannot tolerate the sight of terrorists brazenly operating from safe havens like eastern Syria and western Iraq. In his address to the UN Security Council also, Mr Harper expressed his support for clamping down on foreign fighters. The prime minister said the ongoing military operation in Syria and Iraq was to ensure that terrorist organisations were not able to operate in the open.

Quasi State Of Terror

Mr Harper said it is hard to watch a terrorist caliphate operating as a quasi-state and running a regime of mayhem in an entire region. The ultimate purpose of everything that is being done in Iraq and Syria is to see that even if terrorists and terrorist organisations exist, they should not have the audacity to open bases and run operations for conducting regional or global attacks. Therefore, the current action is certainly warranted, and Canada is fully supportive of it, Mr Harper added, reports Globe and Mail. A senior Canadian government official said the U.S request was not asking for a combat role. The official has been quoted as saying that the Canadian government has always made it clear it that it would do more as and when requests came in.

While speaking to a business audience in the U.S, Mr Harper claimed that Canada has done a lot for the Middle East. Canada's military moved more supplies into northern Iraq than the U.S. Air Force. Besides extending logistical flights, Canada has been the second-largest contingent of foreign forces that had been advising the Iraqi military.