PARIS, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - France could send 'several hundred' extra soldiers to join the NATO force in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Tuesday, adding that details of the mission had not been decided.

Fillon made the announcement during a stormy parliamentary debate on the new deployment, after President Nicolas Sarkozy last week promised more French troops for the alliance's shaky mission in Afghanistan.

Sarkozy is to announce details of the French reinforcements at the first summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) of his presidency in Bucharest from Wednesday to Friday.