THE leaders of France and Australia met with Afghan president Hamid Karzai yesterday, each pledging that their countries were committed to Afghanistan for the long term, as they visited their troops over the holiday period.
Making the first-ever visit to Afghanistan by a French president, Nicolas Sarkozy told Karzai that France had a long-term political and military interest in Afghanistan, Karzai's office said in a statement, apparently signalling that French troops wo
uld not pull out of the country anytime soon.
"We did not want to give the signal of a withdrawal, which would have been a detestable signal at a time when we see the ravages that terrorism can do to the world," Sarkozy said.
France announced its decision a year ago to withdraw 200 elite special forces, raising questions about whether the pullout would precede a larger withdrawal. US military leaders have pleaded with Nato countries to contribute more forces to Afghanistan. About 26,000 of the 50,000 international troops in Afghanistan are American.
Sarkozy said that the "first contribution" of French forces in Afghanistan was to help train the Afghan army and police, and assist in the building of the Afghan state, administration and justice system. Sarkozy also planned to meet some of the 1,300 French troops, who are mostly stationed in the Kabul region as part of Nato's force here. The French president's office said the visit would last a day.
Hours after his meeting with Sarkozy, Karzai met with Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, who was visiting some of the 900 Australian troops stationed in Uruzgan province, site of fierce battles this year.
Rudd, whose party was elected in late November, said he wanted to make an early visit to the troops and confirm Australia's commitment to Afghanistan.
He said: "We will be, as I said before, in this country, Afghanistan, for the long haul and it's important for us to be here in partnership with countries from Nato."
He said he would be encouraging other countries to continue or expand their commitment to Afghanistan.
Rudd announced an aid package of US$95m (£48m) for reconstruction, primarily in Uruzgan.
Asked why military forces have not tried to retake Gizab, a region near Uruzgan province under Taliban control, Karzai said the government could establish control there "at any time", but that he didn't want casualties – civilian or Taliban.
"We don't even want the Taliban to get hurt or die. We want to attract them back to civilian life within the constitution of Afghanistan," Karzai said. "We would like to do that through means other than the military."
Karzai has increasingly been trying to persuade militant fighters and leaders to lay down their arms and pledge their allegiance to the government.
The full article contains 465 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
