Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer joined the debate on Afghanistan Saturday, increasing pressure on Germany to deploy troops in the hostile south of the country where Taliban insurgency is strongest.
De Hoop Scheffer told Bild am Sonntag newspaper that Germany should expand its military activities in Afghanistan, a day after Chancellor Angela Merkel's government rejected calls by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates to do just that.
"Germany plays a leading role in the north and is doing an exemplary job. But I believe the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) could use more of this in other parts of Afghanistan," he said.
"I think all nations should show greater flexibility in the deployment of their forces," de Hoop Scheffer said in an interview, excerpts of which were released in advance of publication Sunday.
Germany has around 3,200 soldiers serving with the 37,000-strong Nato-led ISAF. Most of them are engaged in training and reconstruction work in the relatively peaceful north. Under a mandate approved by parliament in October, Germany can only send combat troops to the south under exceptional circumstances.
In a strongly-worded letter to Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung, Gates asked Germany to consider a new mandate which could allow thousands more troops to be sent to Afghanistan, with some deployed to the more dangerous south.