No decision on French troops for Kandahar until early April

Let's hope--note the last para:

A fog of uncertainty could hover over Canadian politics for weeks as parties vote on the future of the Afghan mission and possibly even fight an election on it -- without being aware of one critical detail.

It's far from certain they will know whether Canada's NATO allies will provide the 1,000 troops the Conservatives have declared a key condition for continued involvement in Kandahar.

One of those key allies said yesterday it will be another seven weeks before it announces whether it will send reinforcements for Canadian troops in Kandahar. French diplomats say they are weighing a handful of options -- including sending soldiers to the volatile southern region where they would work with the Canadians.

France's ambassador to Ottawa, Daniel Jouanneau, confirmed French President Nicolas Sarkozy will announce his decision at an April [2-4] NATO summit in Bucharest after weighing a variety of military concerns.

"It's an ongoing reflection," Jouanneau said. "This reflection will continue over the coming weeks and will run its course in Bucharest."

The French say they conveyed their message to a high-level Canadian delegation to Paris last week which included Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff Ian Brodie, his foreign policy adviser Susan Cartwright and Canada's top soldier, Rick Hillier.

Canadian officials also hope the Americans and Poles could help supply the 1,000 Kandahar-bound troops demanded [emphasis added] in the recent Manley report...