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France to send extra troops to Kosovo

WASHINGTON: France will send up to 700 extra troops to Kosovo to combat a surge of violence between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in the northern town of Mitrovica, French Defence Minister Alain Richard said on Wednesday.

Richard was speaking to reporters after conferring with U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen, who spoke of the need for a "robust" short-term reinforcement to stop the violence. At a joint news conference with Richard, Cohen declined to rule out sending additional U.S. troops to Kosovo.

"We have agreed to that," Richard said, adding that the battalion of 600 to 700 French troops would be joining 4,700 already there.

"With this robust reinforcement, we think we will send the right signal" to quell recent violent eruptions between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo city, Cohen said.

The United States has some 5,500 troops in Kosovo. Most of them are in the American sector although several hundred are now in Mitrovica along with troops from several other European countries sent there recently to help French troops restore order in the French sector.

The troops have been searching for weapons in the wake of clashes this month in which at least nine people have been killed and more than 20 wounded, including two French soldiers.-Reuters