The Taleban has accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy of reneging on an election promise with his pledge to send more troops to Afghanistan. The Afghan militant group said it had freed two French aid workers last year because Mr Sarkozy had pledged to pull French forces out of Afghanistan. He had said during last year's campaign that the long-term presence of French troops in Afghanistan was not assured. Earlier this week, France offered 700 more troops for Nato's Afghan mission.
"The Nato-member countries are not only making baseless promises to Afghans but they do so to their respective nations," a Taleban spokesman told AFP. "A good example is current French President Sarkozy," the spokesman said. "During his electoral campaign, he promised to focus on withdrawing French troops from Afghanistan."
The extra troops raised at this week's Nato summit in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, would not defeat the insurgents, the spokesman said. "With the blessing of God, the occupiers will be defeated as others have been defeated in the past," he said. |