France pledges 4,000 troops

France has announced it has put troops on 48 hours' notice to move to Afghanistan.

President Jacques Chirac - like Britain - has offered up to 4,000 troops to help in humanitarian and security duties.

The French are likely to work alongside the British to secure a major airbase close to Kabul - either the Kabul airfield or the strategic all-weather base built by the Russians at Bagram.

The Allies are also planning to open major air bridge facilities for aid in the south near Kandahar and at Mazar-i-Sharif in the north. But the troops of Britain, France and America have still been given no specific mission.

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