BRUSSELS, March 7 (UPI) -- France's foreign minister indicated his country is responding to Canada's appeal for 1,000 troops in the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
While the United States has appealed to NATO for more troops, Canada went directly to the conservative government of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to ask for combat reinforcements in the violent southern district of Kandahar, a Toronto Star correspondent reported from Belgium.
Thursday, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier told reporters she would meet with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner at the beginning of April on the issue of French troops joining the 2,500 Canadian soldiers.
Sarkozy is expected to detail the French commitment at an April NATO summit in Romania, the report said.
Kouchner hinted that France was prepared to engage but with firm plans.
"A strategy is necessary," he said, adding it would require "a common determination of the allies to stay engaged in Afghanistan for the long term," the report said.
