Germans eye exit strategy

BERLIN: Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (pictured far right) on Sunday advocated laying the foundations by 2013 for an eventual withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Chancellor Angela Merkel (near right), his opponent in elections later this month, said it makes sense to exert pressure on Kabul to ensure progress. The country's unpopular mission in Afghanistan, where it has more than 4,200 troops, has been put in the spotlight by a German-ordered airstrike near Kunduz in which civilians appear to have died.

Merkel last week joined the French and British leaders in calling for a new international conference on Afghanistan to be held this year, hoping to accelerate and improve training of local forces and lay out a timetable in which Afghans can take back full control.