PARIS - France's prime minister wants parliament to vote on whether to keep French forces in Afghanistan, his office said Friday, as a new poll showed most of his compatriots want the troops pulled out after 10 died in a vicious ambush this week.

The legislature, dominated by President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative party, is nearly certain to approve a continuation of the French presence in Afghanistan.

Sarkozy, in a conversation with President Bush on Friday, "underlined France's determination to pursue its fight against terrorism, in close liaison with its allies," Sarkozy's office said in a statement.

Sarkozy has shown little sign of interest in a pullout since Monday's attack outside Kabul, the deadliest for international forces there in years.

But the vote would be an important gesture toward those who questioned Sarkozy's decision in April to reinforce France's force by 700 to about 2,600 troops. Critics said he caved too easily to U.S. pressure for NATO allies to bear more of the burden in increasingly violent Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon will propose to the presidents of each house of parliament that legislators vote on the continuation of the French military mission in Afghanistan during a parliamentary session that starts Sept. 22, his office said in a statement. No date for the proposed vote was given.

The vote would be in line with a constitutional amendment passed last month requiring that any military mission longer than four months be submitted for parliamentary approval.

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