My France Website

Review air france birmingham to india?!?

Has anyone ever flown air france from birmingham, uk, to mumbai, india?

please could you review your experience?

Thanks.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday he welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, but did not immediately commit France to following suit.

However, just days after France said it would not dispatch more forces to the region, Sarkozy left the door open for eventual reinforcements in the new year.

“(Obama's) speech was courageous, determined and lucid, giving new impetus to the international commitment and opening new prospects,” Sarkozy's office said in a statement.

“The president offers his full support and calls on all countries which want to help the Afghan people to back it,” the French statement added.

Obama announced he was ordering 30,000 additional U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan but promised to start bringing forces home from mid-2011. He also called for support from U.S. allies.

The French Defence Ministry website said it had 3,750 troops engaged in the Afghan operation, some of whom are based in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan — the fourth largest foreign contingent in the operation after U.S., British and German forces.

Sarkozy said on Wednesday he would review the situation following a meeting of NATO countries later this week and after an international conference in London on Jan. 28, which is being organised by the United Nations.

“It is in this renewed context that France will look at its contribution to international strategy, giving priority to the training of Afghan security forces,” the French statement said,

“France will not leave the field clear to terrorists and the barbarous violence of fanatics,” it added.

CHANGE OF TONE

Sarkozy also said France intended to give additional help to Pakistan in its fight against militants, but gave no details.

French ministers have repeated in recent weeks that France had no intention of boosting troop numbers in Afghanistan, but the language has modified slightly over the past few days, with the government preparing the way for a possible increase.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Wednesday that “for the moment” France had no need for additional soldiers in the areas where it was operating in Afghanistan.

“As I have said, there are other regions and if the strategy changes we can review things,” he told France Info radio.

Obama telephoned Sarkozy on Monday as he briefed world leaders ahead of his speech on Tuesday, and the change of tone from French officials suggests that Paris does not want to be seen snubbing Washington.

A senior French diplomat with NATO in Brussels told Reuters on Tuesday that France could help with police or supplies.

“There are many ways of helping: gendarmes, equipment, civilian work,” the diplomat said, declining to be named.

(Additional reporting by Sophie Hardach; editing by Myra MacDonald)

Crispian Balmer

Technorati Tags: France Review