Military

Germany to start cutting troop levels in Afghanistan in 2011

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Berlin, Jan 25, IRNA -- Germany is to begin to lower its military presence in Afghanistan next year, only hours after Chancellor Angela Merkel announced plans to send 850 additional soldiers to the war-stricken country, media reports said Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was quoted saying in Berlin that his country would dispatch extra troops now but aimed to cut troop levels next year.

"In 2011 we will begin drawing down our own contingent," he said.

The objective is to provide a clear "perspective for a withdrawal" of German soldiers in Afghanistan, added Westerwelle.

The process of turning over security responsibility to the Afghan government should begin this year, the minister said.

The next four years should pave the way for cutting German troop levels in Afghanistan, he added.

The Afghan people should be in full security control of their country by 2014, according to Westerwelle.

The German government has defied public demands for a swift withdrawal of German military forces from Afghanistan.

OT**1416

End News / IRNA / News Code 920916