France, Karzai want faster NATO Afghanistan exit

Fri Jan 27th 2012

President Nicolas Sarkozy says France and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will ask NATO to hand over all combat mission in Afghanistan to Afghan troops in 2013 - a year earlier than planned.

Sarkozy also says France has informed President Barack Obama of the plans, and will present the plan at a meeting of NATO defense ministers early next month.

The move represents a sharp break by France from its previous plans to adhere to the U.S. goal of withdrawing combat forces by the end of 2014. The proposal was made a week after four unarmed French troops were killed by an Afghan soldier described as a Taliban infiltrator.

France is the fourth-largest contributor of troops to the international coalition in Afghanistan.