Germany eyes Afghan exit road map by 2013 - minister

THE German government wants a framework for the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan to become “visible” in this parliament, due to end in 2013, according to Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

“We don’t want Afghanistan to be a mission that lasts for ever and ever. We want to push on with a plan for self-sustained security,” Westerwelle said at a news conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel after a cabinet meeting in Meseberg near Berlin.

“We want a responsible handover, and we want a handover for responsibility in Afghanistan itself,” he added. “In accordance with this, we want to get to the point during the current parliament where the prospect of a handover becomes visible.”

Due to its war-torn past, Germany has spent most of the last six decades avoiding foreign military operations, and the Afghanistan deployment is not popular, despite having the support of most major political parties.

It has some 4 200 soldiers there, the third largest contingent of troops in the NATO mission in Afghanistan that is made up of 67 000 US troops and 42 000 from allied nations.

Opinion polls show most Germans oppose the involvement of their forces in Afghanistan, but the German government agreed today to extend the army’s mandate there by a year.

The German government has resisted pressure from the United States in previous years to divert its soldiers to more violent areas in the south of the country. Last week the Defence Ministry announced it would send 120 more troops to the country.