Washington, February 01, SPA -- The United States said Thursday it would like France to send combat troops to southern Afghanistan, but did not say it would make a specific request to the French government. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack did not say exactly what kind of help Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expected from her meeting in Washington with French Defense Minister Herve Morin later on Thursday. But McCormack noted that Canada had offered to keep its troops in southern Afghanistan beyond 2009 if it received reinforcements, helicopters, and aerial reconnaissance vehicles. “There is still a need for about a thousand [soldiers] down there in the south, and we are going to encourage everybody to take a look at what they might do,” McCormack told reporters. “I know that request is out there from the Canadians, and any requests for more combat troops down in the south are not limited to France. That is a request that goes to all our NATO allies.” Morin began his Washington visit late Wednesday. He is following the visit made to Washington last November by France’s new president, Nicolas Sarkozy. Sources close to Morin told AFP that there were several possibilities for French involvement in Afghanistan, including a redeployment of French troops who are currently in Kabul, the dispatch of more instructors for Afghan security forces, the return of French special forces to Afghanistan, or possibly a substantial increase in the total French deployment.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/523023