France to boost Afghan mission, allowing U.S. shift

By Andrew Gray

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - France announced at a NATO summit on Thursday it would send 700 troops to eastern Afghanistan as part of efforts to bolster the Western military alliance's force fighting Taliban insurgents.

U.S. President George W. Bush welcomed the move and said it would allow some U.S. troops to move from the east to the south of Afghanistan, scene of the worst violence, where Canada has demanded reinforcements to remain in the mission.

"France has decided to send an extra battalion to the east," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told the summit in the Romanian capital Bucharest.

The French commitment to the 47,000-strong force coincides with increasing Western concern about violence in Afghanistan, with suicide attacks and car bombings on the rise.

The United States has been concerned about the commitment of some European countries, who in turn have been annoyed by public U.S. exhortations to send more troops into a war they believe Washington neglected because of its focus on Iraq.

The alliance intends to rally round a new joint statement on the Afghan mission issued by the summit.

A senior French official said the battalion of 700 soldiers would take France's contingent in Afghanistan to 2,300.

The French commitment was another sign of the warm relations Sarkozy has cultivated with the United States since he took office in May last year.