Paris: France believes military control in Afghanistan is not enough to create stability, although it is considering increasing its troops there, the French defence minister has said.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has said this in a letter to counterparts, insisting any enhanced French role must be considered as part of a "global approach" in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Herve Morin told The Associated Press in an interview yesterday.

Separately yesterday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told Europe-1 radio "that yes, we will increase the number of our soldiers" in Afghanistan, but like Morin, did not specify numbers.

Morin also said the United States should treat Europeans like "adults," when it comes to defense, by supporting an EU military alliance as a complement, not a competitor, to NATO. And he spoke of the challenges France faces in adapting its military to 21st-century threats.

With a week to go before a NATO summit in Romania, the interview at Morin's office in the 18th-century Hotel de Brienne in Paris focused on Afghanistan seen by some as a crucial test for the future of the alliance.

NATO has "overall military control" in the country, Morin said, although Taliban fighters carry out sporadic attacks. But stabilizing the country requires building solid institutions, fighting the opium trade, and working toward the "Organization" of authority in the country, he said.

"Even if you have military control, it's not enough," he said. "There has to be an accompanying plan that allows the Afghans to progressively create the conditions of their own development."
Source : PTI