U.S., France search for Afghan compromise
Visiting French President François Hollande told President Barack Obama on Friday that France's combat troops would leave Afghanistan by year's end and pledged to find a way "for our allies to pursue their mission" in talks at a looming NATO summit. The two leaders also bonded [...]
France’s Hollande sticking to early Afghan pullout
In his first visit to the Oval Office, French President Francois Hollande declared he will withdraw all French combat troops from Afghanistan by year's end, making clear to President Barack Obama the timeline for ending the U.S.-led war will not trump a campaign pledge that helped Hollande gain his new job.
Obama, Hollande agree on much – but not Afghanistan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New French President Francois Hollande told President Barack Obama on Friday that he will stick by his pledge to withdraw France's troops from Afghanistan at year's end, a note of discord in an otherwise convivial first meeting between the two leaders. "I reminded President Obama that I made a promise to the French people to the effect that our combat troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2012," Hollande said after Oval Office talks with Obama. "That being said, we will continue to support Afghanistan in a different way," he said. ...
Obama, Hollande to press euro crisis remedies at G8
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will seek to cement a bond with France's new leader at the White House on Friday before heading to Camp David for a G8 summit where he is set to press Europe to do more to fix the region's deepening economic crisis. Francois Hollande, sworn in this week as French president, has already made waves by challenging Europe's austerity focus and saying he will pull French combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year. ...
U.S., Pakistan on verge of reopening supply lines
Pakistan and the U.S. appeared on the verge of clinching an agreement to reopen ground supply lines into Afghanistan, a U.S. official said, as Islamabad confirmed its president will attend a NATO summit in Chicago.
Pakistan poised to resume NATO supply lines
Pakistan on Tuesday looked poised to end a nearly six-month blockade of NATO ground supply routes into Afghanistan, succumbing to a key demand of the West ahead of a summit in Chicago next week.
Pakistan signals end to blockade of NATO supplies
Top Pakistani leaders will on Tuesday discuss ending a blockade of foreign military supply routes into Afghanistan and repairing US relations, signalling a rapprochement ahead of a NATO summit.
Senior Afghan peace negotiator shot dead in Kabul
KABUL (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead a top Afghan peace negotiator in the capital Kabul on Sunday, dealing another blow to the country's attempts to negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban. Maulvi Arsala Rahmani, 68, was one of the most senior and important members on Afghanistan's High Peace Council, set up by President Hamid Karzai two years ago to liaise with the insurgents. "He (Rahmani) was stuck in heavy traffic when another car beside him opened fire," said General Mohammad Zahir, head of Kabul police's investigation unit. No suspect was arrested. ...
Gunman kills Afghan peace council member in Kabul
An assassin on Sunday shot dead a former high-ranking Taliban official working on reconciling Afghanistan's insurgency with the government, a fresh blow to peace efforts on the day Kabul announced it was gradually taking the lead from the U.S.-led coalition for providing security in much of the country.
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