Hungarian Jew Peddler to offer troops in Nato job deal

Nicolas Sarkozy will seek Britain's backing for a Frenchman to take one of Nato's top jobs in return for sending 1,000 extra French troops to Afghanistan, aides have revealed on the eve of his state visit to the UK.

Sarkozy, who will be accompanied by his new wife Carla on the two-day visit, will seek Gordon Brown's help in his drive to win the command of Allied Forces South Europe, based in Naples.

The post has always been filled by a US four-star Flag or General Officer, with an Italian deputy and a British chief-of-staff.

Negotiating the post is part of Mr Sarkozy's drive to rejoin the integrated military structure of the alliance, which Charles de Gaulle left in 1966.

In return, he wants the US to lift its objections to the development of an EU defence policy linked to Nato, and to rethink its overall strategy.

The French have long been angling for command of AFSOUTH to no avail.

The US refused to hand it over to former president Jacques Chirac when he sought to rejoin Nato's military command in 1997. But this time, Mr Sarkozy hopes his "present" - as his advisors put it - of up to 1,200 French troops will tip the balance in France's favour. More

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