France pledges troops for Afghan mission
French president begins state visit to Britain
LONDON - French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to bolster France's troop strength in Afghanistan during a speech to the British Parliament yesterday, the first day of a state visit.
Sarkozy made the pledge in an address to a joint session of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and said he would confirm the offer during a NATO summit next week in Bucharest, Romania.
"France will propose, at the Bucharest summit, to strengthen its military presence," Sarkozy said, speaking in the Parliament's grand Royal Gallery.
He did not specify a number, and said that sending more French troops would depend on NATO guarantees that Afghans would be given more responsibility, and that non-military efforts would be better co-ordinated.
He is expected to brief British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the details today.
Canada has warned that it would pull its 2,500 troops out of Afghanistan if other allies did not offer more help. Ottawa is seeking 1,000 more allied troops for anti-Taliban efforts in the southern province of Kandahar.
Sarkozy received a standing ovation at the end of his 45-minute speech, which also urged China's government to hold talks with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
Nicknamed the "bling-bling president" because of his extravagant tastes, Sarkozy's trademark sunglasses and ubiquitous cellphone were nowhere in sight amid the elaborate pomp of the state visit.
He played the statesman, greeting the Queen and appearing reserved and sombre in a dark overcoat as he reviewed the Horse Guards.
His glamorous wife, model-turned-singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, was dressed in a demur belted grey Christian Dior coat and matching pillbox hat. She curtsied to the Queen, and they chatted animatedly at Windsor Castle.
"It was like a French Catholic schoolgirl meets Jackie O," said Lucy Yeomans, editor of the fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar, likening Bruni-Sarkozy's outfit to the famously stylish former U.S. first lady Jackie Kennedy.
Bruni-Sarkozy smiled earlier as Prince Charles kissed her gloved hand in greeting as he met the visitors at London's Heathrow Airport.
Britain's tabloids greeted her in typical style -- printing a nude photograph she posed for in 1993. The original print is due to be auctioned in New York next month by Christie's auction house.
In his speech to Parliament, Sarkozy followed a powerful tribute to Britain's role in countering the threat of fascism in Europe with a promise to stand by London's side as it fought against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
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