Britain to send 500 extra troops to Afghanistan

[David]

LONDON (AFP) – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Wednesday an extra 500 troops for Afghanistan, but pressed NATO allies to do their "fair share" in the increasingly deadly and unpopular mission.

Brown also said the Afghan government -- whoever is in charge following disputed elections -- had to commit to providing more Afghan troops, as well as to get tough on corruption.

The announcement, which takes Britain's force level in Afghanistan to 9,500, came as US President Barack Obama mulls a request for up to 60,000 more troops from General Stanley McChrystal, the top NATO and US commander in Afghanistan.

Brown has opted to boost troop levels despite growing public calls for British forces to come home, plus controversy over the scope and resourcing of the military effort.

"We have agreed in principle a new British troop level of 9,500," Brown said in a statement to the House of Commons. The Ministry of Defence confirmed this represented an increase of 500.

He stressed the increase was based on three conditions -- that the Afghan government shows a commitment to providing police and soldiers who can be trained up to engage in combat; that British troops are properly equipped and that other NATO countries also boost force levels.

"Our commitment (should be) part of an agreed approach across the international coalition, with all countries bearing their fair share," Brown said.

"Everyone must accept that if they are part of the coalition, they have to share the burden."

Brown also announced that Britain would provide an extra 10 million pounds (16 million dollars, 10.7 euros) in humanitarian aid for areas of Pakistan "liberated" from militants.

Britain currently has around 9,000 troops in Afghanistan, the second largest deployment after the United States. There have been 221 British deaths there since the war began in 2001.

The news is likely to be welcomed in the US, where Obama has struggled to persuade even Washington's closest allies to dispatch more troops to Afghanistan amid spiralling violence and waning public support.

It comes as Obama holds in-depth talks with his war council Wednesday, the latest meeting on a grim assessment of the war by McChrystal.

Obama said Tuesday he would conclude "in the coming weeks" whether to fulfil McChrystal's request for reportedly up to 60,000 more troops to bolster the US effort.

Before his announcement, Brown spent several minutes solemnly reading out the names of all 37 Britons who have died in Afghanistan since he last addressed the House of Commons in July.

Many were killed in the run-up to August's presidential elections which were plagued by allegations of fraud. Preliminary results suggest Hamid Karzai will be voted back in.

Brown said he had asked Karzai and his main rival Abdullah Abdullah for an assurance that they would "sign a deal with us and other allied leaders" on the elimination of corruption.

"No one can be satisfied with what happened during the elections in Afghanistan," he said.

"Every one of us has questions that have to be answered (about)... the amount of ballot rigging that appears to have taken place," he added, saying the new Afghan government would have to take "tough action on corruption."

Brown has faced growing pressure over the purpose, scope and resourcing of the British mission in Afghanistan in recent months.

A Populus opinion poll for the Times newspaper out Wednesday showed that public calls for British troops to pull out of Afghanistan have risen sharply as casualties mount.

Some 36 percent of voters now believe all British forces should be withdrawn, compared to 29 percent in mid-September.

Brown says that three-quarters of the most serious extremist plots uncovered in Britain have their roots in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region.