Germany insists London Afghan conference not just about troops

Dec 29, 2009, 11:57 GMT

Berlin - The German government stressed on Tuesday that next month's London conference on Afghanistan must not be limited to a discussion of troop levels.

'We need to ask ourselves in London: what are our goals in Afghanistan, and what is the correct strategy to reach these goals?' a foreign ministry spokesman said.

Only then was it appropriate to discuss troop deployments, the spokesman added.

The comments came after German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told German media he would not attend the London conference if its agenda was limited to discussing a troop surge.

Westerwelle demanded a 'broad political approach' and an 'overall strategy' for the Afghanistan conflict, in his interview with Stern magazine.

A foreign office spokesman said he wanted to counter the impression that Westerwelle was threatening to boycott the London conference, which was an 'important landmark.'

The spokesman expressed confidence that the Afghanistan talks would indeed tackle a wide range of issues, and said this was clear from the preparation taking place.

Nevertheless, the foreign office did not back down from Westerwelle's message.

'If the Afghanistan conference were to become a pure troop deployment conference, it would not make sense for the foreign minister to go,' the spokesman said.

Over the past month, Germany has dragged its feet in the face of calls from US President Barack Obama to help with a push to defeat the Taliban, holding off from any decision regarding troop numbers until after the London talks.