PARIS - Sarkozy said troops sent for reinforcement would start returning in a time frame similar to the U.S. force withdrawal. President Barack Obama said Wednesday the United States would pull out 33,000 troops by late 2012.
Sarkozy's office said after he spoke to Obama by telephone "France will begin a gradual withdrawal of reinforcement troops sent to Afghanistan, in a proportional manner and in a calendar similar to the withdrawal of American reinforcements."

France has about 4,000 troops in Afghanistan, and has seen 62 soldiers killed. It is due to start redeploying and handing over areas it controls to the Afghan military later this year.

NATO leaders agreed in November to end combat operations and hand security responsibility to Afghan forces by end-2014, and Obama vowed to start withdrawing U.S. troops from July 2011. (Agencies)