UK's Blair hopeful after pleading for Afghan help

BRUSSELS, Mar 9 (Reuters) British Prime Minister Tony Blair voiced hope today that other European Union countries would provide more troops for Afghanistan, but he announced no breakthrough after pleading with fellow leaders at an EU summit.

Britain said last month it would send an extra 1,400 troops to Afghanistan because most NATO allies have refused to send more soldiers or agree to deploy existing units to tackle Taliban insurgents in their southern and eastern strongholds.

Blair told the British parliament on Wednesday another battle group of about 800 soldiers was needed in Afghanistan and said he would talk to other European NATO allies at the Brussels summit about taking more of the strain.

Blair said after the two-day meeting he had discussed Afghanistan on the sidelines with leaders he did not identify.

''There are some reasonably optimistic signs that certainly some colleagues recognise the importance of the collective effort in Afghanistan, because it's of huge importance to the security of European countries, as well as to the wider world,'' he told a news conference.

''I've tried to impress upon people the need to make the maximum collective effort and I think it is understood that what is happening in Afghanistan is of fundamental importance to all of us.'' Blair's spokesman said not only military support was needed.

''While different people will play different roles, the important thing is that everybody does play their role so that we can do not only the fighting that is necessary but also the reconstruction that is necessary,'' he said.

Britain recently announced it would increase its forces in Afghanistan from 5,500 to about 7,700 this year while reducing its military presence in Iraq and Bosnia.

NATO this week began a spring offensive against the Taliban, launching its biggest attacks since the 2001 war.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has nearly quadrupled within the last three years, largely as a result of US and British reinforcements, and the transfer of US troops from a separate US-led coalition to ISAF.

The force now stands at 35,000 troops, of which nearly 23,000 are either American or British. Allies such as France and Italy have declined to send more troops, pointing to existing commitments in Africa, Lebanon, the Balkans and elsewhere.

Some countries have also imposed restrictions on what their troops can do and where they go.

REUTERS PDM KP2114