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NATO to send 7,000 troops to Afghanistan

BRUSSELS, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- NATO members will send at least 7,000 more troops to Afghanistan to support the U.S. surge, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Brussels.

At least 25 countries will send more forces in 2010 and there would be "more (troops) to come," Rasmussen said during the NATO ministers' summit, the BBC reported Friday.

Italy's troop strength in Afghanistan will number nearly 4,000 by the end of next year, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said during the NATO ministers' meeting in Brussels.

In addition, Frattini said 200 more Carabinieri would be deployed to help train Afghan security forces, Italian news agency ANSA reported. Italy's current contingent in Afghanistan is 2,795.

Frattini said he had "cordial" informal talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also in Brussels, before the foreign ministers met. Diplomatic sources told ASNA Clinton thanked Italy for its contribution to help with U.S. President Obama's decision to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops.

Clinton called the response from NATO allies "positive," even though some major countries -- such as Germany and France -- haven't committed to sending additional troops.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday he was sending an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. He also called on the 43 nations with a military presence in the country to send additional troops.

"With the right resources, we can succeed," Rasmussen said during a news conference after foreign ministers met with representatives of non-NATO countries with forces in Afghanistan.

Sarkozy's trip to London canceled

LONDON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's inability to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy prompted Sarkozy to cancel his trip to London, diplomats said.

Diplomatic sources told The Daily Telegraph that Sarkozy asked about visiting London when he met Brown during the Commonwealth Summit in Trinidad. However, efforts to set up a meeting in London were unsuccessful.

But which country canceled the visit is fodder for speculation, The Times of London reported. A spokesman for Sarkozy said "longstanding" engagements forced the cancellation of the London trip, while Brown's office said British officials canceled the visit.

Sarkozy caused consternation in Britain when he described the British as "the big losers" in recent European Commission changes, in which former French Agriculture Commissioner Michel Barnier was installed as the new European Union Single Market Commissioner.

Sarkozy hinted that London could see more regulation from Brussels, seat of the European Union.

"I want the world to see the victory of the European model, which has nothing to do with the excesses of financial capitalism," he said.

However, diplomats told the Telegraph Sarkozy told Brown he would visit London to calm fears that the city would be subject to French-style regulation and that his remarks were intended for his French audience.

Effort may push Congress to public health

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Two Republicans said they would renew efforts to force Congress members to use any public option health plan in any bill reforming the U.S. healthcare system.

Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and David Vitter, R-La., two of the Senate's most passionate opponents the public option, said they were preparing an amendment that would direct congressional members into any government-run plan passed, The Hill reported..

"The idea, broad brush, is that whatever government option is in the bill, every senator and every representative should be enrolled in it," said Vitter, who tried to introduce similar language earlier. "No other possibilities, no other choices."

In addition, Vitter told The Hill, he also was considering a proposal that would ban physician services now available to legislators at the Capitol as well as special privileges allowed at military hospitals.

"It's called leadership," Coburn said of the amendment that has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle. "If it's good enough for everybody else, we ought to be leading by example."

Members of Congress now have a selection of healthcare plans and providers available to them under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, although senators have been considering some type of congressional requirement as part of any healthcare reform bill.

Vitter said he did not know when a vote on his amendment would occur because Republicans are organizing their amendments "thematically" in preparation for the coming floor debate on a healthcare bill.

Al-Shabaab denies Somalia hotel blast

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The Somali Islamic group al-Shabaab denied responsibility for the deadly hotel bombing in Mogadishu, blaming the government instead, the group's spokesman said.

Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage said the government was responsible for Thursday's blast at Hotel Shamo that killed at least 22 people, including students, government ministers and journalists, the BBC reported Friday. More than 60 people were wounded.

"We declare that al-Shabaab did not mastermind that explosion," Rage said. "We believe it is a plot by the government itself. It is not in the nature of al-Shabaab to target innocent people."

Presidential spokesman Hassan Haile had told the BBC Thursday he thought al-Shabaab masterminded the attack during a graduation ceremony.

Rage said some government officials were seen leaving the hotel before the bomb exploded, leading to the belief "that they were behind the killing."

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed described the attack as a "national disaster," the British broadcaster reported.

He called the victims "dear citizens ... unjustly assassinated while carrying out their duty to the nation."

The blast occurred during a ceremony for medical students graduating from Benadir University.

U.S. pushes Japan for decision on air base

TOKYO, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The Obama administration wants Japan to move quickly to resolve a dispute over the location of a Marine base, U.S. Ambassador John Roos said Friday.

The dispute about the location of the U.S. Marine air station on Okinawa has become a sticking point in the security relationship between the two countries, The Washington Post reported.

"It is important that we resolve the current issues expeditiously," Roos said in his first public address in Japan since he arrived three months ago.

But newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said this week his government won't meet the U.S. demand to decide the base's location quickly.

"We are not discussing this on the premise that it has to be decided by the end of the year," Hatoyama said.