KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai met French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Saturday, days after France promised to send an extra 700 soldiers to help battle the Taliban.
Kouchner arrived from Tajikistan where he said on Fridaythat French troops operating in Afghanistan would number about3,000.
Also in Kabul for talks with Karzai on Saturday was ForeignMinister Maxime Bernier of Canada, whose troops have beenbattling a resurgent Taliban in the Afghan south.
Afghanistan's Western allies reiterated their long-termsupport for Afghanistan at a NATO summit this month but therehas been tension within the alliance over troop contributions.
Canada has pledged to keep its troops in Afghanistan afterthe French promise of reinforcements. Canadian oppositionparties and members of the public have been calling for thetroops to be brought home.
NATO commands a 47,000-strong force in Afghanistan, about19,000 of its troops from the United States and 7,750 fromBritain. The United States leads a separate coalition force.
Kouchner and Bernier were due to hold a news conferencewith their Afghan counterpart later on Saturday.
French officials have said France's reinforcements wereconditional on a more unified overall strategy on issuesincluding development, and on progressively handing overresponsibility for security and other issues to Afghans.
France hosts a conference on June 12 aimed at raising fundsfor Afghanistan and reviewing that strategy. The conferencewould be the focus of Kouchner's talks in Afghanistan, anofficial in Paris said.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said this month hebelieved Afghanistan's fledgling army would by 2011 be able totake over leadership of military operations in the violentsouth where Canada's troops have been fighting.
(Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Jerry Norton)
