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French president says Afghan mission changing
Added At: 2011-07-12 4:33 PM
Last Updated At: 2011-07-12 4:33 PM
AP
French President Nicolas Sarkozy observes a minute of silence to honor French soldiers killed in Afghanistan as he visits French troops at the 152nd Infantry Regiment military base in Tora in the region of Surobi, Tuesday, July 12, 2011.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KABUL: French President Nicolas Sarkozy says his country will maintain a steady pace to the drawdown of its 4,000 troops with the goal of transitioning to a civilian mission by 2014.
Sarkozy says the death of Osama bin Laden and the rising tide of democracy in the Arab world mean that Afghanistan is no longer in danger of being overtaken by terrorists.
He visited French troops on Tuesday.
He says the French will continue a measured drawdown of troops as they increase their civilian efforts in areas including agriculture, health and governance programs.
The French government has said that about a fourth of its troops will be out of Afghanistan by the summer of 2012. Sarkozy says French troops in the Surobi area on the outskirts of Kabul will be the first to leave.
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