London: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Wednesday called on coalition countries to back US President Barack Obama's plans to send an extra 30,000 troops to Afghanistan by sending more troops of their own.
"I call on all our allies to unite behind President Obama's strategy," said Brown, who on Monday confirmed that Britain would send an extra 500 soldiers — taking Britain's troop level including special forces to around 10,000 — to help tackle rising violence and train Afghan forces.
Brown said a vital next stage would be a conference in London on Afghanistan on January 28 to which all 43 countries involved in the action, led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) and countries from the region would be invited.
Guest list
Sources said Brown was looking to invite countries neighbouring Afghanistan, which include Iran and Pakistan, as well as India.
Obama, in a defining moment of his presidency, announced he would deepen the US involvement in Afghanistan, sending 30,000 more troops to fight the Taliban.
Obama tempered the buildup by pledging in a televised speech on Tuesday that the first troops would return by July 2011 and stressing that Afghan forces would be rapidly trained to take over.
He also called for additional commitments from US allies and pledged to strengthen ties with Pakistan, where Al Qaida and Taliban fighters have been based.
