Obama to decide on troops for Afghanistan next week

US President Barack Obama will announce his decision on whether to send more US troops to Afghanistan “within days” after he held a final strategy session with top aides, the White House said yesterday.

Obama’s announcement, expected to come in a presidential television address next Tuesday evening, comes after weeks of study that some critics have denounced as “dithering”.

The president on Monday evening held a two-hour meeting in the White House Situation Room with officials including Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Robert Gates. It was their ninth such meeting on the topic.