BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7325632.stm

07:37 GMT, Wednesday, 2 April 2008 08:37 UK

Bush calls for more Afghan troops

Mr Bush arrived in Bucharest on Tuesday
US President George W Bush has urged Nato allies to send more troops to Afghanistan ahead of the alliance's biggest-ever summit in Romania.

Speaking in Bucharest, Mr Bush said "we cannot afford to lose Afghanistan... we must win".

Romania and France are due to send more troops and Mr Bush asked other nations "to step forward".

During the summit, Mr Bush is expected to say Nato membership must be open to any European democracy that seeks it.

Nato allies want the Bucharest summit, starting later on Wednesday, to send the message that its 47,000-strong peacekeeping force will stay in Afghanistan for as long as necessary.

In a keynote speech hours before the summit of the 26-nation alliance, he said: "As [French] President Sarkozy put it in London last week, we cannot afford to lose Afghanistan.

"Whatever the cost, however difficult, we cannot afford it, we must win.

"If we do not defeat the terrorists in Afghanistan, we will face them on our soil."

Mr Bush arrived in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, late on Tuesday.

He has said he will push for Nato's eastern expansion during the key summit.