In an effort to defuse public outcry over a law that may legalize rape within marriage, Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada says we shouldn't judge the Afghan mission on that basis alone, but remember the "core" purpose of the war is security.

In an interview with Sun Media, Omar Samad urged Canadian military families who have lost members in Afghanistan to understand there is a "package" of reasons why Canada is giving billions in aid and has sacrificed 116 soldiers' lives.

"The mission is a very important critical international undertaking, a core part of which is collective security and the security of your country, and your people as a result of threats, terrorist threats, that existed and continue to exist in my part of the world," Samad said.

"And then other components have to do with human rights and governance and democracy building and development. It's all a package and that's my message to those families."

FAMILY CODE

This week, it emerged the Afghan government may have passed a law making it illegal for women to refuse their husbands sex or leave the family home without permission.

The law is reportedly a new family code for Afghanistan's Shia minority. It is seen by many as a strategy by President Hamid Karzai to garner support from extremists before elections in August.

But Samad dismisses the accusations as premature, insisting that since the story first emerged he has been unable to confirm if the law has been passed, introduced or even discussed by Afghan parliamentarians.

Explaining that things move slower in his country he said: "I don't have an exact deadline for it, but I hope that it would be, hopefully, clarified within the next day or two."

The ambassador insisted women's rights were "centric" to Afghanistan and that he understands why the suggestion of such a law upset so many Canadians.