Berlin - The German government Friday welcomed the extension by a year of the United Nations mandate to Afghanistan along with the expansion of the mission. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Berlin that he backed the better coordination of the international effort as laid out in the mandate agreed unanimously by the UN Security Council in New York on Thursday.
The new United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which runs to March 23, 2009, was "the right signal at the right time," Steinmeier said.
The mandate underlined the determination of the international community to bring the mission in Afghanistan to a successful conclusion, he said.
"I particularly welcome that the new special envoy of the secretary general, Kai Eide, has received a strong coordination mandate," Steinmeier said.
Reconstruction work in remote areas needed better coordination, the German foreign minister said, adding that this was true also in coordinating the civil and military efforts.
Germany has up to 3,500 troops deployed, mainly in reconstruction and training in the relatively peaceful north. There is also a flight of six reconnaissance Tornados assisting operations throughout the country.
Germany's NATO allies have repeatedly pressured the German government to allow its troops to be deployed in the volatile south alongside the British, Canadian and Dutch forces fighting the Taliban there.
But the mission, which has broad backing in the German parliament, remains unpopular among the wider population, and the government has refused to consider a more active combat role for the troops.
