By KUNA
Paris : French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to urge a broadening of the strategy currently in place in Afghanistan, with more emphasis on the role of the United Nations rather than on the mere military input of NATO, officials here indicated Wednesday.
Already on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner stressed the need for “strategic and economic perspectives” for Afghanistan at a time when France is involved in an acrimonious political debate over the imminent decision to send more French soldiers to that country.
Asked if France is pushing for a clear definition of NATOs role in Afghanistan or elsewhere, a role that seems incongruous with the original charter of that body, a senior French official said Sarkozy would make Frances position clear when he addresses the NATO Summit being held Wednesday and Thursday in Bucharest, Rumania.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani pointed out that an expanded meeting would be held at the Summit in the presence Afghan leader, Hamid Karzai, and United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon.
“The President of the Republic will make known the position of France, notably on all the questions you are asking,” she said in response to KUNA.
“As you know, France is urging a global strategy by the international community in Afghanistan under the aegis of the United Nations, because the future of Afghanistan requires an effort by all the international community,” Andreani indicated.
France has close to 2,200 troops already deployed for the fight against the Taliban and these forces are both inside and outside Afghanistan. Sarkozy is expected to accede to a mainly US and Canadian requests to bolster French forces there and move some of them to more dangerous zones.
Estimates on the number of troops to be sent in the near future range from between 700 to 1,000.