Sarkozy favours Afghan withdrawal of French troops
Source: Reuters
PARIS, April 26 (Reuters) - Presidential frontrunner Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday he saw no long-term presence for French troops in Afghanistan. "It was certainly useful that we sent (the troops) in the context of the war against terrorism, but the long-term presence of French troops in that part of the world does not seem to me to be decisive," Sarkozy told France 2 television. France has some 1,100 troops in Afghanistan after withdrawing some 200 elite forces, which had operated under U.S. command, earlier this year. "There was a given moment for helping (Afghanistan President Hamid) Mr. Karzai," said Sarkozy, the right's presidential candidate for the May 6 run off. "Then the president of the republic decided to repatriate the special forces and a certain number of units. It's a policy I will follow," he added. The French are part of a 35,000-strong NATO-led operation in Afghanistan, which took over command of a war against the Taliban from U.S.-led forces last year. NATO chiefs have regularly complained of troop shortfalls and there have been regular casualties during Spring fighting with the Taliban. The Taliban kidnapped two French aid workers in southwestern Afghanistan at the start of April and has threatened to kill them unless France withdraws its troops from the country as one of the conditions for their release. France's decision to place its elite forces under U.S. command in Afghanistan stood in contrast to its steadfast refusal to support the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Sarkozy repeated French criticism of the invasion on Thursday and dismissed speculation that the United States might be considering a military attack on Iran because of tensions over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. "I cannot imagine that the United States would envisage making an error of that type," Sarkozy said. "We have seen what happened with a military intervention in a country of 25 million inhabitants. You can imagine what would happen with a military intervention in a country with 75 million inhabitants."
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