Afghans must take security role in 2010: German foreign minister

Germany wants Afghan forces to start taking responsibility for security in their country this year, foreign minister Guido Westerwelle said in an interview released on Saturday.

With nearly 4,500 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, Germany is the third biggest contributor to the NATO mission after the United States and Britain. However, opinion polls show most Germans want the troops to come home. 

"At the Afghanistan conference in London we should work on starting the process of transferring responsibility for security in Afghanistan from 2010," he told Germany's Focus magazine. 

Washington announced plans last month to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan to try to stem mounting violence and some NATO allies are also pledging more soldiers. 

Angela Merkel's government, made up of her conservatives and Westerwelle''s Free Democrats (FDP), has said it will wait to decide on whether to deploy more troops until after the London conference on Afghanistan later this month.

Westerwelle has drawn criticism from his political foes in the last week for threatening not to go to the London conference if it focuses exclusively on troop numbers. He insists the meeting must also discuss civilian reconstruction work.

"Some people think it is good foreign policy to say yes to whatever is suggested by other governments. My request is that we form our own opinion and then develop a strategy together with our allies," Westerwelle told Focus.

Germany's role in Afghanistan has become a highly sensitive subject for Merkel's government in the last few weeks due to media revelations about a German-ordered air strike last September that killed civilians. The reports forced a cabinet minister and the head of Germany''s armed forces to resign.