(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-05 11:45

WASHINGTON -- US President George W. Bush has told NATO allies that the US would send more troops to Afghanistan in 2009, the Pentagon confirmed on Friday.

According to the American Forces Press Service, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters while flying to Oman from a NATO summit in Bucharest, capital of Romania, that the president brought up the offer at a dinner with other NATO leaders.

However, he did not disclose the specific number of the troops, saying the US first wants to see how much support comes from other allies and how security efforts progress in 2008.

"I don't want to make significant long-term commitments of additional US forces before giving the allies the opportunity to see what they're going to do," he said.

He also expressed the confidence in the bipartisan support for the move, saying "no matter who is elected president they would want to be successful in Afghanistan."

The secretary noted that any decision on troop levels in Afghanistan depends on whether deployments to Iraq can be shortened.

General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, is scheduled to make recommendations on April 8-9 on the progress resulted from the troop surge last year and the way ahead in Iraq.

A total of 3,500 US marines will be deployed to Afghanistan later this month for a seven-month tour, including 2,200 to the violent south to counter Taliban militants, as a way to push other NATO allies for more troops. Currently, the United States has 29, 000 troops in Afghanistan, half of whom are part of a 40,000- strong NATO force.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced at the Bucharest summit that France would send an additional battalion, or about 700 troops, to Afghanistan, to free up US troops already in the country to serve as reinforcements in the volatile south.