Canadian warship leaves for Mediterranean

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Canadian warship leaves for Mediterranean

Postmedia News Jan 8, 2012 – 1:54 PM ET

The Royal Canadian Navy began the next phase of its mission in the Mediterranean

Sea as the HMCS Charlottetown departed from Halifax on Sunday morning.

The ship and its 250 sailors will be participating in NATO's decade-long

anti-terror campaign, Operation Active Endeavour. A Sea King helicopter is also

aboard the frigate.

HMCS Charlottetown takes over for HMCS Vancouver, which took part in Canada's

foray into the war in Libya, enforcing an arms embargo through the popular

uprising to oust strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

This deployment will be the second visit to the Mediterranean for HMCS

Charlottetown and its crew in the last 12 months. The frigate was dispatched to

the region last March as part of the NATO-led effort to protect Libyan citizens.

Canada's continued naval presence in the area comes as Syria descends further

into chaos, with protests calling for the ouster of President Bashar al-Asad

through a brutal government crackdown.

Prime Minister Harper has said al-Asad " must go " , calling the Syrian

government's violent repression is " disgraceful " and will be ultimately

unsuccessful.

Harper did say, however, that Canada will not yet commit any military assets to

supporting the protests, as the United Nations Security Council hasn't issued a

resolution to support international intervention.

The prime minister said there isn't likely to be any appetite for such a

resolution — despite the apparent successes achieved in Libya after a UN

resolution.