Sarkozy rejects Obama's Afghan plea

03/04/2009| IslamWeb

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has rejected a plea from Barack Obama, the US president, for his country to send extra troops to Afghanistan.

 

Speaking at a news conference with Obama, in Strasbourg on Friday, Sarkozy gave his support to "the new American strategy in Afghanistan", but added there would be "no strengthening of French troops" in the country.

 

He said France was ready to do more in the field of police training and economic aid.

 

The two leaders addressed the media hours before the beginning of a Nato summit, which is likely to focus on Afghanistan.

 

'Stalwart ally'

 

Rob Reynolds, Al Jazeera's correspondent reporting from Strasbourg, said it appeared Sarkozy and Obama "have agreed not to disagree over this".

 

"It does look as if the American side here is not going to push the issue... because they recognize the political realities - it's simply not going to happen," he said.

 

Despite Sarkozy's unwillingness to commit more troops, Obama said he was "grateful" for Washington's relationship with France.

 

"France has already been a stalwart ally when it comes to Afghanistan," he said.

 

"It's not just a matter of more resources, it's a matter of more effectively using the resources we have."

 

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato's secretary general, told Hamish Macdonald, Al Jazeera's correspondent at the summit, that keeping member-states on the side of the military alliance's operation in Afghanistan was crucial to its success.

 

"This is a war amongst the people, which means that we as Nato must keep winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people, and at the same time that we do not lose the hearts and minds of the nations who are providing the forces," he said.

 

Obama plan

 

Obama is due to talk with Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, before the Nato summit opens in the German town of Baden-Baden.

 

The US president is set to unveil more details of his plan to tackle Taliban-led opposition in Afghanistan and Pakistan at the summit.

 

Obama is expected to call for greater support on troop deployments needed to bolster his plan.

 

European nations have been reluctant to commit extra troops to Afghanistan in support of about 70,000 mostly Nato soldiers already stationed there.

 

"The United States has already said that it will deploy another 17,000 troops to the country, which was followed up by an announcement that another 4,000 US troops will be going there to train Afghan security forces," Hamish Macdonald, Al Jazeera's correspondent, said from Strasbourg.

 

"What we will see over the coming days is the US lobbying very hard to see European allies send more troops as well. Whether or not they will do that is another question entirely."

 

However, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said on Friday that Obama will not push Nato members on the numbers of troops they can deploy.

 

"The Nato summit is not a pledging conference," she said.

 

French return

 

Nato leaders will also formally admit France back into Nato's military command structure, after a 43-year absence.

 

 

Marcin Zaborowski, a senior research fellow at the European Union Institute for Security Studies, said that Paris' return to the Nato military wing does not automatically mean it will commit more troops to its current 2,000-strong presence in Afghanistan.

"The significance of France re-joining Nato is largely symbolic, rather than practical. There are two key issues that will come up in debate. The first is that France is going back to Nato to have more of a say in the decision-making process, the implications of which are being felt by France itself," he told Al Jazeera.

 

"Secondly, I think that the influence in the Nato structure is not necessarily linked to the contribution to Afghanistan. What is really important for the US is that France is back in Nato. That sends a certain signal to other nations."

 

Croatia and Albania will also be formally welcomed into the Nato alliance at the summit.

 

Russian ties

 

The summit, which marks Nato's 60th anniversary, will also examine the alliance's relations with Russia, which deteriorated after Moscow’s war with Georgia in August.

 

The Russian government has repeatedly stressed its opposition to what it calls Nato's attempts to gain influence in regions within Moscow's traditional sphere of influence.

 

Both Georgia and Ukraine, which were members of the former Soviet Union, have in recent months signaled their intention to join Nato.

 

Pavel Felgenhauer, a defense analyst and columnist for the Moscow-based Novaya Gazeta newspaper, told Al Jazeera that Russia may consider helping Nato in its mission in Afghanistan if the alliance refrains from expanding towards the Russian border.

 

"Russia does not like Nato much but it also does not like the Taliban in Afghanistan, which is Nato's main enemy. Right now, Russia is ready to help Nato in Afghanistan but Nato will have to take into account certain interests [of Russia].

 

"There is a degree of tension and most of that is because of [the war in] Georgia. For Russia, Nato is not seen as a separate player but a continuation of Washington. Moscow does not want Nato to expand into the post-Soviet space and take on Georgia and Ukraine."

 

PHOTO CAPTION

 

US President Barack Obama meets with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at Palais Rohan in Strasbourg, France, Friday, April 3, 2009.

 

Al-Jazeera