No extra French combat troops for Afghanistan: French official

PARIS, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- France will not deploy extra ground combat troops to Afghanistan but may send in more trainers for Afghan army and police, a French presidential representative said on Tuesday.

Thierry Mariani, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, told the press that France would respond in a few weeks to a U.S. request for 1,500 extra combat troops for Afghanistan.

France now has some 3,750 combat troops in Afghanistan, according to French foreign ministry statistics. And so far at least 35 French troops have died in Afghanistan, most being killed in action.

French media reported that U.S. President Barack Obama had requested during a Nov. 30 telephone conversation with Sarkozy that France send 1,500 extra combat troops to Afghanistan.

According to the Le Monde report, Obama has also asked Germany to contribute 2,000, Italy to send 1,500 and Britain to move in 1,000 as extra combat troops to Afghanistan.

Early on Monday, the French president announced that French troops would stay in Afghanistan for as long as necessary for accomplishing the infrastructure rebuilding and stabilizing social security, but he did not promise any extra troops during his telephone conversation with Obama.

Obama is scheduled to announce his new Afghan strategy through a live broadcast from the West Point military academy at 0100 GMT on Wednesday.