Paris - France is planning to reduce the number of its soldiers stationed abroad by some 20 per cent, Defence Minister Herve Morin said in an interview published Wednesday in the daily France- Soir.

"That will enable us to save 100 (million) to 150 million euros (137 million to 199 million dollars)," Morin said.

In 2008, France spent some 900 million euros on its foreign troop deployments.

The troop reduction will primarily concern forces stationed in Bosnia, Kosovo, Lebanon, the Ivory Coast and Chad, Morin said.

The French Parliament is to vote on the troop deployments later on Wednesday.

French forces in Afghanistan will not be affected by the measure, since their deployment was voted in September.

Opposition politicians have charged that the soldiers will eventually be redeployed in Afghanistan to support US President Barack Obama's plans to shift the US military focus from Iraq to the fight against the Taliban, which he sees as the main front against terrorism. (dpa)