French President Nicolas Sarkozy has told the British parliament he will send more troops to Afghanistan to support Nato's mission.

The BBC reports that Mr Sarkozy, who is on a state visit to Britain, said he would make the offer at next week's Nato summit in the Romanian capital, Bucharest.

Nato leaders have frequently called on member countries to contribute more soldiers to the mission in Afghanistan. Canada recently threatened to pull out its 2,500 troops from Afghanistan if other allies did not contribute more troops and equipment.

The Nato-led International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf) currently has over 43,000 personnel in Afghanistan, while France currently has 1,515 soldiers there, mostly in Kabul.

In a speech to the British parliament in London, Mr Sarkozy said defeat to Taleban insurgents was not an option, but he did not say how many more troops he was proposing to send.

© NewsRoom 2008