France reconsiders Afghan troop deployment after Obama speech

Paris - The French government is considering augmenting its operational strength to fight the Taliban insurgency, President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said Wednesday, following US President Barack Obama's decision to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. However, Paris will wait until after an international conference on Afghanistan, to be held January 28 in London, to make a decision.

At that conference - which was called by Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown - Afghan President Hamid Karzai will have to make "clear commitments" on economic and social development and the fight against drug-smuggling, the Elysee Palace said in a statement.

Paris also expects to hear at the conference "precise orientations on the Afghanization of the most stable regions" in the country.

"It is within that new framework that France will examine its contribution to the international strategy, in giving priority to the training of Afghan security forces," Sarkozy's office said.

The statement described Obama's speech late Tuesday as "courageous, determined and lucid" and noted that it would "lend a new spirit to the international commitment" in the region.

Speaking on France Info radio Wednesday, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner noted, "There is nothing that says we must not readjust" the French military contingent in Afghanistan.

He noted, however, that in the area of the country where French soldiers are currently deployed "there is, for the moment, no need to increase the number of troops."

Civilians, police and technicians could be sent to the region if conditions in the villages are suitable, he said.

The daily Le Monde recently reported that, last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had requested from Kouchner that Paris deploy an additional 1,500 French troops in Afghanistan.

According to official defense ministry figures, France currently has about 3,750 soldiers engaged in its Afghan mission, which includes troops stationed outside the country.