Hollande sticks to early French withdrawal in Afghanistan
Hollande sticks to early French withdrawal in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — In his first visit to the Oval Office, French President Francois Hollande declared he will withdraw all French combat troops from Afghanistan by year’s end, making clear to President Barack Obama the timeline for ending the U.S.-led war will not trump a campaign pledge that helped Hollande gain his new job.
Obama nodded along on Friday, knowing what was coming, but did not otherwise directly respond. Heading into a NATO summit on the course of the war and beyond, the White House has sought to emphasize the war coalition will remain firm even as nations pull back. And Hollande assured Obama that France was not out to cut and run.
“We will continue to support Afghanistan in a different way. Our support will take a different format,” Hollande said. “I’m pretty sure I will find the right means so that our allies can continue with their mission and at the same time I can comply to the promise I made to the French people.”
France’s declaration has significance far beyond its borders. Hollande’s move means France, one of the top contributors of troops to the war, will be removing the combat forces a full two years before the timeline agreed to by allies in the coalition. That could shift more of the burden to those allies and give them reason to hasten their own exit.
Hollande later told reporters that some “residual” number of France’s current 3,300 troops will remain in Afghanistan after this year to provide training and to bring home equipment. But he alluded to the reaction that France’s fast-track withdrawal may get from its NATO allies when they gather in Chicago Sunday and Monday.
Wake for Mary Kennedy held amid apparent rift
BEDFORD, N.Y. — The two sides of Mary Richardson Kennedy’s grieving family faced off in court Friday, just hours before she was mourned at a wake at the estate where she committed suicide.
Details of the legal dispute were sealed by a judge, but it came as the Kennedy and Richardson families were finalizing arrangements for separate memorial services for the 52-year-old architect and environmentalist, who hanged herself Wednesday. Mary and Robert Kennedy had been going through a lengthy, contested divorce.
Relatives, friends including “Curb Your Enthusiasm” creator-star Larry David and “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King, and other mourners — so many that some had to park on nearby side streets — converged Friday evening on the brick mansion in suburban Bedford. Floral deliveries and vans full of people arrived as two police cars were stationed at end of the long driveway, keeping reporters at a distance.
Bush to return to White House for unveiling of official portrait
WASHINGTON — Former President George W. Bush plans to return to the White House for the unveiling of his official portrait later this month, marking a rare visit by the two-term president who has largely shunned the spotlight since leaving office.
The White House and Bush’s office said Bush and former first lady Laura Bush will return to the White House on May 31 for the release of their portraits.
Bush has avoided politics since he left office in January 2009. The portrait ceremony will be his first visit to the White House in more than two years.
Bush appeared with President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton at the Rose Garden following the devastating Haiti earthquake in January 2010. The Republican former president accompanied Obama last year to New York’s ground zero on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Bush spokesman Freddy Ford said the couple was “looking forward to seeing a lot of their friends from the administration and they are grateful to the President and First Lady for their hospitality.”
By wire sources