QUEBEC -- Any attempt to counter terrorists war-torn Afghanistan will not succeed without an intervention in neighbouring Pakistan, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said Wednesday.

Mr. Dion hinted NATO could take action in Pakistan, which has a porous border with Afghanistan, if the Pakistani government doesn’t move to track terrorists.

“We are going to have to discuss that very actively if they (the Pakistanis) are not able to deal with it on their own. We could consider that option with the NATO forces in order to help Pakistan help us pacify Afghanistan,” said Mr. Dion in Quebec City, commenting after his two-day trip to Afghanistan last weekend. “As long as we don’t solve the problem in Pakistan, I don’t see how we can solve it in Afghanistan.”

The Liberal leader explained that Afghan officials told him they know where the extremist strongholds are in Pakistan. But he said the Afghans don’t take action.

“One day, we are going to have to act because our soldiers are cleaning out some areas, but in fact very often they are only clean in principle. The insurgents go take refuge in Pakistan and they are going to come back (to Afghanistan) at the earliest opportunity. This could last very long if we don’t tackle the problems that often originate from Pakistan,” Mr. Dion said.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay told Canwest News Service Dion’s comments were off base.

“Mr. Dion can’t be serious to suggest NATO “intervene,” in another country while simultaneously saying Canada should abandon its United Nations-mandated NATO mission in Afghanistan,” he said in an e-mail.

“He has to explain to Canadians why he wants an “intervention” but wants to turn his back on Afghanistan, which has asked and continues to ask for Canada’s help. It’s inane.”

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf acknowledged last August that Islamic extremists are operating in tribal areas on his nation’s side of the border with Afghanistan and providing support to insurgents fighting U.S. and NATO troops.

Mr. Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai have been urged by the U.S. and other allied countries to work together to counter the extremists’ presence in the tribal belt that straddles their 2,400-kilometre border.

But Mr. Dion said that more pressure has to be put on the Pakistani government for immediate action.

Although Mr. Karzai rejected the Liberal position that Canada should end its combat mission in southern Afghanistan by February 2009, Mr. Dion reiterated his party wants a halt to the 2,500-soldier combat mission in Kandahar as scheduled.

But he said he wants some troops to remain in Afghanistan to play a different role, for instance in training police, civilian protection and reconstruction in safer zones.

“We saw how much Canada is needed for development and security purposes and we should focus on that,” stressed Mr. Dion, who added he was “impressed” by the job done by the Canadian Forces.

“We were proud to be Canadians when we were in Afghanistan,” he said.

But nonetheless, Mr. Dion thinks that Canada’s “enormous” involvement in the combat must come to an end.

“For the mission to succeed, NATO must apply the principle of rotation. When a country is in the most difficult combat mission during three years, there must be a time for rotation,” he said.

The House of Commons will have to vote on whether to extend the mission, following recommendations brought forth by the panel headed by former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley.