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    October 16, 2011

German President Makes Surprise Afghanistan Trip

   VOA News
   Afghan President Hamid Karzai (C) talks with German President Christian
   Wulff following a joint press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, October
   16, 2011.
   Photo: AP
   Afghan President Hamid Karzai (C) talks with German President Christian
   Wulff following a joint press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, October
   16, 2011.

   German President Christian Wulff made an unannounced visit to
   Afghanistan Sunday.
   Wulff met in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in preparation
   for a conference on Afghanistan in Bonn in December.
   The German leader said his country will remain a "friend and partner"
   of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of foreign combat troops planned
   for 2014.
   Karzai expressed hope that the upcoming conference will lay the
   foundation for the country's prosperity, stability and peace.
   Germany has approximately 5,000 troops in the NATO mission in
   Afghanistan, mainly in the north.
   Wulff is the second German president to visit Afghanistan in 44 years.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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