Germany mulls Afghan option after Libya abstention

Germany is discussing with Nato whether it could take on AWACS aerial reconnaissance duties in Afghanistan, after opting against joining military operations in Libya, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday. The Nato alliance is operating 24-hour surveillance of Libya with AWACS reconnaissance aircraft, which are based in Germany, and about a third of the Nato AWACS crews are Germans.
-- Merkel to attend Paris talks on Libya
But Berlin abstained on Thursday from voting for a UN Security Council resolution authorising a no-fly zone over Libya, which its EU allies Britain and France supported, due to worries there would be civilian victims as in Iraq and Afghanistan. "As everyone knows Germany will not take part in any military measures and for this reason only ... we abstained in the vote," Merkel told a news conference.
"What we are in talks about with Nato is the question whether in the framework of all the Nato tasks, we could take on tasks such as in the area of AWACS in Afghanistan," she said, adding that she would attend talks on Libya which President Nicolas Sarkozy is due to host on Saturday. Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere are discussing this option with the Nato alliance, she added. German politicians had earlier said Berlin might contribute indirectly to the international mission by freeing US reconnaissance plane crews needed for Libya.
Westerwelle told parliament the centre-right government was determined that German troops would not take part in a military operation in Libya, and favoured instead tougher sanctions against the Libyan leader. Boosting Germany's AWACS crews in Afghanistan would require parliament's approval, which could take some persuading since the Afghan mission is increasingly unpopular and the last annual vote on extending it showed growing resistance.
But Merkel and Westerwelle would have a tougher time still convincing parliament to approve involvement in another foreign campaign in Libya, especially when they are struggling to defend their hold on state governments in six regional elections. Germany said earlier on Friday it had abstained from the Security Council vote for a no-fly zone and military action to protect civilians, because it carried "considerable dangers and risks" and might not succeed in ousting Muammar Gaddafi.