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Britain ready to send more troops for Afghan election
Fri Apr 3, 2009 3:27pm EDT
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By Adrian Croft
STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - Britain will consider sending extra troops to Afghanistan to help with security during the presidential election in August, a British government official said Friday.
The temporary increase in the number of British troops could be in the "mid to high hundreds," a government source said.
Britain has more than 8,000 troops in Afghanistan, the second largest foreign contingent after the United States.
The official indicated that Britain had taken no decision on a permanent increase in its troops there despite pleas from U.S. President Barack Obama for Europe to step up its contribution to the war on Taliban insurgents.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will tell other NATO leaders at a summit opening in Strasbourg later Friday that his offer of extra troops depends on other NATO countries doing their bit, the official traveling with Brown said.
"The prime minister will be making clear in the discussions that we would be prepared to offer a temporary increase in our troop numbers for Afghanistan to cover the election period," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"This would be subject to appropriate burden-sharing and appropriate contributions from other NATO member states."
The official said there was a significant risk that Taliban insurgents would try to disrupt the presidential election, which is scheduled for August 20.
"A democratic Afghanistan and smooth running of the elections is clearly in our interests," he said. "A democratic Afghanistan helps stop terrorism on the streets of Britain."
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Obama told Europe Friday it must do more to help the United States win the war in Afghanistan.
The United States has 38,000 troops in Afghanistan, more than all the other foreign contingents put together. Obama has said he will add an extra 17,000 U.S. combat troops, as well as 4,000 others to help train Afghan officials.
Britain, which considers it is more than pulling its weight in Afghanistan, has also called for a fairer sharing of the burden with its European allies.
A British newspaper quoted the head of the British army, Gen. Richard Dannatt, as saying last month that the number of British troops serving in the country could rise to somewhere in between the current level of just over 8,000 and 12,000.
"Obviously, we keep these issues under consideration," the British official said. Continued...
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