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Sarkozy visits Afghanistan
22/12/2007 14:18 - (SA)
Kabul, Afghanistan - Making the first trip to Afghanistan by a French President, Nicolas Sarkozy met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday to discuss the political and military situation in the war-torn country.
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 military force here. The French president's office said the visit would last a day.
Sarkozy told Karzai that France has a long-term political and military interest in Afghanistan, Karzai's office said in a statement, apparently signalling that French troops would not pull out of the country anytime soon.
The presidents discussed what Karzai's office described as the two main challenges in Afghanistan: insecurity and narcotics. Afghanistan this year accounted for 93% of the world's production of opium, the main ingredient in heroin.
"They emphasised that there should be lots of work on different issues like energy, irrigation and also in road reconstruction, especially highways," Karzai's office said.
The focus of Sarkozy's trip is to meet with the French troops stationed in Kabul, an official at the French Embassy said. He requested anonymity because he was not the official spokesperson.
France contributes about 1 300 troops to Nato's 41 000-strong International Security Assistance Force.
French Defence Minister Herve Morin has expressed concern over deteriorating security in some regions of Afghanistan; 2007 has been its most violent year since the 2001 US-led invasion.
More than 6 300 people, mostly militants, have been killed in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press count.
Morin accompanied Sarkozy, along with Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Human Rights Minister Rama Yade. Sarkozy is the first president of France to visit Afghanistan, Karzai's office said.
- AP
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