F. Hollande is to remove French forces from Afghanistan

France's newly elected President Francois Hollande said Friday that he is sticking to his campaign pledge to remove his country's forces from Afghanistan by the end of the year, CNN reported.

After an Oval Office meeting at the White House with the U.S. president, Hollande told reporters, "I reminded President Obama that I made a promise to the French people to the effect that our combat troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2012."

But, he added, the French government "will continue to support Afghanistan in a different way, our support will take a different format."

As the Frenchman spoke, Obama looked on but made no comment.

According to the website of the International Security Assistance Force, France has 3,308 troops in Afghanistan.