Today (20 January) Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle spoke on the phone with Zalmai Rassoul, the new Afghan Foreign Minister.

The Federal Foreign Minister congratulated Rassoul on his new appointment and assured him of Germany’s support. Cooperation with the previous Foreign Minister, Spanta, had been very good and Westerwelle expressed his hope that cooperation would be just as close with Rassoul.

The Ministers discussed the status of preparations for the international Afghanistan Conference next week in London. They agreed that the preparations were on the right track. Both Ministers welcomed the fact that the conference would have a comprehensive political agenda that included reconstruction and regional cooperation in addition to security issues.

Rassoul assured Foreign Minister Westerwelle that the new Afghan Government’s goal was to assume as much responsibility as possible as soon as possible.

Federal Minister Westerwelle promised that Germany would do its part to help Afghanistan achieve this goal. Civilian reconstruction and training Afghan police officers were two important areas in which Germany would assist.