Posted by
RogerLNicholson on Saturday, November 15, 2008 10:06:18 PM
Germany's parliament Thursday approved a 13-month extension
to the country's participation in naval patrols off the Horn of Africa,
part of a U.S.-led anti-terrorism operation.
Lawmakers
voted 428-130 to authorize the German military to continue
participating until December 2009 in Operation Enduring Freedom, which
was launched in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorism attacks in the
U.S. There were eight abstentions.
Germany has around
100 service personnel involved in the naval patrols. The mandate
approved Thursday allows for a maximum 800 to participate - down from
1,400 so far.
Germany will take over the mission's
leadership for three months in January.
But the new
mandate no longer authorizes the deployment of up to 100 soldiers from
an elite military unit to serve in
Afghanistan.
Details of the unit's operations are
kept secret, but officials have said it has not been used in
Afghanistan since Chancellor Angela Merkel's government took office
three years ago.
They have portrayed the change to
the mandate as reflecting a shift in priorities in Afghanistan from the
U.S.-led anti-terror operation toward the NATO-led International
Security Assistance Force - in which Germany has 3,600
troops.
German military deployments abroad require
parliamentary approval, typically renewed on an annual
basis.
Separately, Germany plans to contribute a
frigate to a planned European Union anti-piracy mission off the Horn of
Africa. Parliament is expected to vote on that in early
December.