12 Mar 2009

France to return to NATO command

6:02 am on 12 March 2009

France is to rejoin NATO's integrated military command.

President Charles de Gaulle pulled out of the alliance's inner circle more than 40 years ago in a dispute over US influence over Europe.

The command structure is responsible for strategic planning.

President Nicolas Sarkozy told a defence conference on Wednesday

that France needed to return to the heart of NATO to make its voice heard.