Speaking at a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Merkel reiterated that she backed his goal of having Afghan forces fully responsible for security by 2014.
"I think it would be wrong to name a concrete date for a withdrawal because .. we don't want to give the Taliban an excuse to go quiet and then launch a big attack," said Merkel.
"There are ambitious goals for Afghanistan to play a bigger role in its own security," she added.
Germany on Tuesday outlined a news strategy for its role in Afghanistan, saying it would send at least 500 extra soldiers there and nearly double its civilian aid to help create the conditions to start a withdrawal from next year.
Germany, whose deployment is NATO's third biggest contingent in Afghanistan after the United States and Britain, has come under pressure from some NATO allies to provide more forces.
Berlin will also offer a further 350 soldiers as a "flexible reserve" and contribute 50 million euros ($70 million) over five years to an international fund to reintegrate Afghan rebels.
Karzai, stopping in Berlin on his way to an international conference in London on Thursday, expressed confidence that Afghan forces would be able to gradually take on more responsibility for security.
"We want to be in a position to defend our land as soon as possible with Afghan forces," said Karzai, according to a German interpreter.
The mission in Afghanistan is deeply unpopular among Germans and the government has been careful to emphasize its role in training Afghan forces. German soldiers are stationed mainly in northern Afghanistan rather in the more dangerous South.
Source:reuters.com/
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