Brown offers more troops for Afghan election

The Prime Minister flew into Strasbourg for the 60th anniversary Nato summit with the proposal for a temporary increase in troop numbers around the election period in August.

Officials travelling with Mr Brown made clear that the offer depended upon other Nato members being prepared to send additional forces.

Mr Brown did not go to the summit with a specific figure in mind although it is understood that commanders are considering a number in the "mid to high hundreds".

One official said: "There is obviously a risk of the Taliban wanting to disrupt these elections. The smooth running of these elections is clearly in our interests.

"The Prime Minister will be making clear in discussions that we will consider a temporary increase in our troop numbers to cover the election period subject to appropriate burden-sharing."

The official said: "This will be a temporary deployment in order to deal with security issues arising from the elections.

"This is not at this point a decision. This is something that remains under consideration."

The issue of Afghanistan is expected to dominate the two-day summit jointly hosted by France and Germany in Strasbourg, Baden Baden and Kehl.

Last week US president Barack Obama published his plan for Afghanistan which would see an additional 21,000 American troops deployed to the country.

Britain, which has the second largest contingent with 8,000 troops, has been reluctant to commit to a significant increase in permanent numbers unless other major Nato allies - which have so far seen little fighting - are prepared to take on a greater role in tackling the Taliban.

However at a joint press conference today with Mr Obama, President Nicolas Sarkozy flatly ruled out any increase in French forces. Instead he simply offered additional economic aid.

Nevertheless the US president still praised France as a "stalwart ally" in Afghanistan.

"It is not just a matter of more resources, it is a matter of using more effectively the resources that we have," Mr Obama said.

One of the officials travelling with Mr Brown emphasised the benefits of improved security in Afghanistan.

"A democratic Afghanistan will mean more security on the streets of Britain," he said.

Earlier today, Nato secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer suggested European countries may be deterred from contributing more in Afghanistan by President Hamid Karzai's adoption of a law which has been criticised by the UN for curtailing women's rights.

The law, passed by Afghanistan's parliament before being reportedly signed by Mr Karzai earlier this month, is understood to legalise rape within marriage and bar women from seeking work, education or medical treatment without their husbands' agreement.

Mr Scheffer told the BBC: "How can I defend this, and how can the British defend this, when our boys and girls are dying there in defence of universal values, and here is a law that fundamentally violates human rights?"

Liberal Democrat MP Sir Menzies Campbell has tabled a parliamentary motion urging the Government to express its opposition to the law to the Afghan government.

Sir Menzies said: "The willingness of the British public to accept the deployment of more troops to Afghanistan will undoubtedly be affected by their reaction to the news that President Karzai is willing to approve legislation which would be deeply damaging to the rights of women in his country.

"The constitution of Afghanistan and the international conventions it has signed embrace the principle of equality.

"Many people in Britain will ask themselves why should British troops - particularly female ones - be risking their lives in Afghanistan in support of a regime which wants to put women back in the position they were when the Taliban were in control?"