September 3, 2003	Wednesday	Rajab 5, 1424

BERLIN, Sept 2: Germany’s cabinet agreed on Tuesday to extend its peacekeeping in Afghanistan beyond Kabul, provided the United Nations voted to expand its mandate.

Germany, which has about 2,000 peacekeepers in Afghanistan, was ready to send an initial 230 soldiers to Kunduz, about 200 kilometres northwest of Kabul, government spokesman Bela Anda said. Germany could eventually send up to 450 troops.

Any deployment would also need the support of the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.

The US-backed Afghan government and the United Nations have called for the 5,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), currently deployed in Kabul, to be extended outside the capital.

But contributing countries have been reluctant to provide troops for the lawless provinces, where factional rivalries and a resurgent Taliban movement pose mounting security problems for rebuilding work and elections due next year.

A German foreign ministry spokesman said there was no timeframe for the possible deployment in Kunduz. However, he said there was a degree of urgency as the mission would be designed not just to support civilian reconstruction efforts but to prepare for elections due next year.—Reuters