28-Jan-2012 - France to Push For Speedier Afghan Handover

Visted 4 times

By WILLIAM HOROBIN in beats by dr dre studio headphone pink Paris and MARIA ABI-HABIB in KabulFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy said he will propose accelerating the handover of foreign troops' security responsibilities in Afghanistan to Afghan forces to 2013, a year earlier than the date planned by the U.S. and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies. "We have decided to ask NATO to look at the Afghan army taking complete control of NATO's combat missions during 2013," Mr. Sarkozy said on Friday after a meeting in France with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Mr. Sarkozy said he will propose the shift at a meeting of NATO defense ministers on Feb. 2 and Feb. 3. The French president said French military training operations in Afghanistan would resume on Saturday after a suspension following the killing of four French servicemen by an Afghan soldier on Jan. 20. After the incident, Mr. Sarkozy said France may be forced to consider an early withdrawal of the nearly 4,000 French troops in Afghanistan. He will speak on Saturday with U.S. President Barack Obama, who has already been informed about the plans, Mr. Sarkozy said. "The idea is that next year, the allied forces, forces of the coalition will have the job of support and training and not combat," he said. The Obama administration has been exploring the possibility of a transition to an advisory beats by dre studio limited edition headphone white diamond role before 2014, according to senior U.S. officials, but has announced no planned acceleration. Mr. Karzai sounded less sure about the timeline. "We hope to complete this transition of authority to the Afghan forces and the Afghan government by the end of 2013 at the earliest, or by the latest, as has been agreed upon, by the end of 2014," he said. Afghan forces currently lead about half of all military operations in Afghanistan but aren't fully ready or professional enough to take over security for the entire country, Western diplomats in Kabul say. The Afghan police and army still face high attrition rates, corruption and drug-abuse problems. International troops are handing over security to Afghan forces in a step-by-step transition process starting with the country's less-violent territories. With an economic downturn at home and growing fatigue toward the war effort, many European countries are under pressure from their populations to exit Afghanistan sooner than planned. Mr. Sarkozy is under political pressure too. He faces elections in his own country in less than 90 days and his leading opponent in the polls, Socialist Party candidate François Hollande, has said he would seek to withdraw French troops as early as possible in consultation with France's allies if elected. The decision to send French troops to Afghanistan in 2001 was supported by both political left and right, but the operation—as in the U.S.—has become more controversial as it has dragged on. Mr. Sarkozy said the plans presented by the two leaders in Paris will allow France to plan for the withdrawal of all combat forces as soon as the end of 2013, noting French soldiers would continue training missions. He also said French troops would resume the training and combat support operations suspended after the killing of four French servicemen in Kapisa province. French army control of Kapisa will be handed to Afghan forces in March, he said. On Mr. Karzai's visit, the two countries signed a treaty for France to help Afghanistan with long-term development of agriculture, health, education and infrastructure. Write to William Horobin at William.Horobin@dowjones.com and Maria studio ferrari headphone Abi-Habib at maria.habib@dowjones.com

Comments (0)Post Comment View Whole Blog