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NATO chief increases pressure on Germany over Afghan troop role
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 02 - 02 - 2008

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer joined the debate on Afghanistan Saturday, increasing pressure on Germany to deploy troops in the hostile south of the country where Taliban
insurgency is strongest, according to dpa.
De Hoop Scheffer told Bild am Sonntag newspaper that Germany
should expand its military activities in Afghanistan, a day after
Chancellor Angela Merkel's government rejected calls by US Defence
Secretary Robert Gates to do just that.
"Germany plays a leading role in the north and is doing an
exemplary job. But I believe the International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF) could use more of this in other parts of Afghanistan,"
he said.
"I think all nations should show greater flexibility in the
deployment of their forces," de Hoop Scheffer said in an interview,
excerpts of which were released in advance of publication Sunday.
Germany has around 3,200 soldiers serving with the 37,000-strong
NATO-led ISAF. Most of them are engaged in training and
reconstruction work in the relatively peaceful north.
Under a mandate approved by parliament in October, Germany can
only send combat troops to the south under exceptional circumstances.
In a strongly-worded letter to Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung,
Gates asked Germany to consider a new mandate which could allow
thousands more troops to be sent to Afghanistan, with some deployed
to the more dangerous south.
With experts warning of more Taliban attacks, Washington wants the
troops to replace the 3,200 Marines it is sending to Afghanistan to
beef up the 26,000 US soldiers already stationed there.
The Marines, though, are only supposed to stay for seven months at
the most, after which other NATO allies are expected to provide
replacements.
Gates warned that without reinforcements NATO faced a loss of
credibility and a division within the alliance, according to sources
who have seen the letter.
The reluctance of allies like Germany and France to make more
troops available for a combat role has frustrated the US, Canada, and
other NATO allies whose troops have been taking losses fighting the
Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a warning earlier
this week that Canada might end its military mission in the dangerous
south unless other NATO countries send more troops.
German politicians are reluctant to commit more forces amid
growing concern among the population that the country could become a
target for terrorists because of its involvement in Afghanistan.
Jung rejected Gates' call for more combat troops to be sent to the
south and said Germany would continue to concentrate on its
reconstruction efforts in the north.
"We have agreed on a clear division of labour," Jung said. "I
believe that we really need to keep our focus on the north."
De Hoop Scheffer described Gates' letter as "unhelpful," a view
shared by many German politicians.
"We need to do more but it doesn't help to go public about this,"
he said. "Such an approach will conceal the gains we have already
made in Afghanistan."
Opposition Greens Party defence spokesman Winfried Nachtwei said
the tone of the Gates letter was a "relapse" into the era of former
defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
"The German government should not allow itself to be blackmailed
by a sinking US administration," he said.
Germany has been considering a NATO request for combat troops for
a Quick Reaction Force in northern Afghanistan to replace a 350-
strong Norwegian force that leaves in July.
Government sources said the defence ministry would probably agree
to the request.


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