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Sarkozy Says France Could Add Troops in Afghanistan
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By REUTERS
Published: December 23, 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) — In a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Saturday, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said France might increase its troop presence in the country to help defeat the Taliban-led insurgency.
“There is a war going on here — a war against terrorism, against fanaticism, that we cannot and will not lose,” he told reporters who accompanied him on the trip.
He said that French troops, currently about 1,900, would continue to help build Afghan security forces, in particular by training the Afghan Army and police. Mr. Sarkozy said a decision on any increase in troop numbers would come in the next few weeks.
Mr. Sarkozy’s visit, his first since he became president in May, was largely symbolic, given the small number of French troops here. But it signaled a continued shift in French foreign policy toward greater cooperation with Washington and its allies in the fight against terrorism.
The French president held talks with Afghanistan’s leader, Hamid Karzai, over rising opium production and the country’s poor security situation — two issues of central concern to Mr. Karzai and the foreign nations serving here. The past two years have been the bloodiest since the overthrow of the Taliban in late 2001, with more frequent attacks by the group, particularly in the south.
Mr. Sarkozy said France, which has lost 13 soldiers here, “had paid the price in blood” for helping consolidate democracy in Afghanistan.
French forces are mostly stationed in the relatively secure capital, Kabul, and France has repeatedly been urged by NATO members in Afghanistan to dispatch its forces to eastern and southern areas, where Taliban militants are most active. It was unclear whether any increase in French troops would address those concerns.
On Tuesday, the Taliban’s leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, called on foreign forces to withdraw from Afghanistan.
Mr. Sarkozy appeared to address that development on Saturday. “What is certain is that we have not wanted to give the signal of departure, that would have been a despicable signal at a time when one sees the ravages inflicted by terrorism in the world,” he said.
Britain, which has about 7,800 troops operating in Afghanistan, is expected to increase its troop levels here as it withdraws its forces from Iraq, but no formal announcement has been made.
Australia’s new prime minister, Kevin Rudd, also visited Afghanistan on Saturday for talks with Mr. Karzai. Mr. Rudd, who was elected on Nov. 24, spoke of his country’s continuing support for Afghanistan. He pledged an additional $110 million in aid over the next two years.
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