Sarkozy confirms sending extra troops to Afghanistan

BUCHAREST—French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed Thursday that his country would send a battalion of troops to the east of Afghanistan. Addressing a NATO summit in Bucharest, Sarkozy said he had decided to reinforce the French military presence with one battalion deployed in the east region of Afghanistan. France’s pledge of about 800 troops to Afghanistan has broken a months-long deadlock of the alliance. “I can confirm that the French government has offered a substantial military contribution to the operations in Afghanistan,” NATO spokesman James Appathurai told reporters Wednesday night after a working dinner of NATO leaders. The United States, building on the French offer, has agreed to send troops to the south of Afghanistan. The troops and equipment pledged have satisfied Canada’s demand for help from an ally, said Appathurai. Canada, with 2,500 troops fighting in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, had threatened to pull out its troops after their mandate expires in early 2009 unless other allies will provide additional troops and resources. With the conditions met, the mandate of the Canadian troops can now be extended till 2011, the spokesman said. Several other countries, such as Romania and Poland, have also indicated their willingness to increase their contributions to Afghanistan, he said. Details of their offers will be discussed on Thursday’ s high-level meeting on Afghanistan of NATO allies and 14 non-NATO troops contributing countries as well as other big players, like the World Bank.

—Online