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Germany`s Fischer supports ISAF expansion in Afghanistan

IRNA

2003/08/19

Berlin, Aug 19, IRNA -- German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer 
supports the expansion of the International Security Assistance 
Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, press reports said Tuesday. 
"It would be very good if an ISAF expansion would succeed," 
Fischer said cited by the daily Tagesspiegel, adding however that 
such an expansion could not be the sole prerequisite for a German 
military engagement outside of the Afghan capital Kabul. 
His comments coincide with the scheduled departure Tuesday of a 
German investigative team to the Afghan town of Kunduz, some 250 
kilometers northwest of Kabul, charged with assessing the area as a 
possible future deployment location. 
German Defence Minister Peter Struck last week spoke in favor of 
a greater German "presence" in Afghanistan`s civil reconstruction, 
suggesting that Berlin expand its mission from Kabul to Kunduz. 
Both members of the ruling Social Democratic party (SPD) as well 
as the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) have voiced 
scepticism over such plans for fear of the unstable and insecure 
conditions in Afghanistan. 
VKP/212 
End