Presidential visit
October 17, 2011
Germany's President Christian Wulff continued his surprise visit to Afghanistan on Monday at a police training center in Mazar-e-Sharif.
Germany plays an important role in training Afghans, who at the end of 2012 are expected to take over the responsibility of security in their country from foreign troops.
Some 200 German security forces train 5,000 Afghans annually.
On Sunday, Wulff met Afghan President Hamid Karzai as well as Afghan human rights advocates.
The talks with human rights advocates in the capital, Kabul, focused on women's rights, along with general human rights and the political future of the country.
"Of course, I want to see the transfer process and the situation in Kabul and Afghanistan for myself, and I would like to thank the soldiers and many people helping with civil reconstruction who are doing excellent work under the most difficult of circumstances," said Wulff.
'Great respect'
Wulff emphasized that improving human rights in Afghanistan was of central importance to Germany. He praised the work that had already been done in this regard, saying, "I have great respect for the achievements of the Afghan civil society."
He went on to say that civil society had a crucial role to play in the transition to Afghanistan's full sovereignty.
Earlier, on arrival, Wulff said Germany would remain a friend and partner for Afghanistan even after the withdrawal of international troops.
"Germany will not abandon Afghanistan," said the president, whose trip was not announced in advance for security reasons.
At the meeting of the two presidents, Karzai described Germany as an "old friend of Afghanistan." The meeting was aimed to help prepare for a conference on Afghanistan scheduled for early December in Bonn.
After his meetings in Kabul, Wulff traveled to a German army camp in Mazar-e-Sharif, where he met with military officials and commemorated German soldiers who had been killed in Afghanistan. A cookout dinner was held for the president, as well as soldiers, police and civilian military employees.
Controversial comments
The last formal visit to Afghanistan by a German head of state was by then-President Heinrich Lübke in 1967.
Wulff's predecessor, Horst Köhler, visited German troops in Afghanistan in May 2010, but did not meet Karzai. Köhler resigned shortly afterwards after making controversial comments about German military involvement in Afghanistan.
The remarks suggested that the German deployment of troops in Afghanistan could serve some economic purposes.
Some 5,000 German troops are based in Afghanistan. They are due to start withdrawing at the end of this year.
Author: Timothy Jones, Holly Fox (dpa, dapd, Reuters)
Editor: Martin Kuebler