German security visit to US

German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere (pictured) and Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich landed in Washington Sunday evening local time for their two-day visit.

De Maiziere is to attend the ceremony at Washington's Holocaust Memorial Museum to mark the 20th anniversary of its opening. Former President Bill Clinton and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, as well as officials from France and Poland are also to attend.

Afghanistan future

De Maiziere is to meet with US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on Tuesday to discuss Afghanistan and how future tasks within NATO are to be shared between member nations.

Berlin has offered to keep 600-800 troops in Afghanistan for two years from 2015 to help train and advise the Afghan national army. It offer requires, however, a formal request from Kabul and a formal UN Security Council authorization.

In total, the alliance plans to keep 8,000 to 12,000 troops in Afghanistan, with the aim of assisting its army until it takes on full responsibility for dealing with security, including Taliban insurgents.

Germany currently has some 4,200 troops in northern Afghanistan, making it the third-biggest foreign troop deployment in Afghanistan after the US and Britain. The US count of 68,000 is to be cut by roughly half this year.

Interior Minister

Friedrich had scheduled his visit to the US before the recent fatal Boston marathon bombing. He is due to hold talks with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and discuss ways to tackle electronic cyber crime during a visit to the US National Security Agency (NSA) in Washington.

The NSA serves the US military and intelligence institutions.

ipj/jm (dpa, AFP)