The French leader announced his country’s troops will withdraw by the end of 2013 on Saturday.
By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press
PARIS — France and Afghanistan will ask NATO to hand over all combat missions to the Afghan military in 2013, a year earlier than planned, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday.
It signaled a sharp break by France, the fourth-largest troop contributor in Afghanistan, from its previous plans to adhere to the U.S. goal of withdrawing combat forces by the end of 2014. The proposal was made a week after four unarmed French troops were killed by an Afghan soldier described as a Taliban infiltrator.
Sarkozy, who made the announcement during a visit by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said France has informed President Barack Obama of the plan, and will present it at a Feb. 2-3 meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. Sarkozy said he was planning a phone call with Obama on the matter Saturday.
The effort comes at a time of widespread fatigue among European contributors to the 10-year allied intervention in Afghanistan, and would accelerate a gradual drawdown of NATO troops that Obama has planned to see through until the end of 2014.
“We have decided in a common accord with President Karzai to ask NATO to consider a total handing of NATO combat missions to the Afghan army over the course of 2013,” Sarkozy said.
The French leader announced his country’s troops will withdraw by the end of 2013 on Saturday.