Keeping Afghan Promises

Nations actively involved in rebuilding Afghanistan need to stick to their promises, Koenigs said after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday in Berlin.

"Afghanistan is a long-term commitment and the Afghans expect us to live up to our obligations," he said, describing the current situation as "extremely difficult."

An increase in violence by remnants of the ousted Taliban regime has seen a spate of attacks on NATO-led peacekeepers as well as suicide bombings and kidnappings of foreigners.

UN envoy calls for democracy

Koenigs said the international community was determined to press ahead with the democratization process in Afghanistan by "robust" means if necessary, including the use of military force.

He also said it was vital to check Taliban resurgence in the south of the country under the mandate provided to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

"We will need additional support in the near future because the threat is not yet over," said Koenigs, a German diplomat who is the special representative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

Merkel: Germany stands firm

Merkel pledged that Germany would maintain its commitment to Afghanistan, where Taliban rebels are holding a German engineer hostage after another German died in their hands this week.

"I feel confirmed in many efforts we are making, against the tremendous odds that we are constantly up against," Merkel said. "This is a long-term, but very important and indisputable engagement."

A government spokesman said the body of the man was expected to be flown back to Germany on Wednesday so that an autopsy could be conducted in Cologne on Thursday.

There were conflicting reports of whether he was shot or died of a heart attack.

Reports reaching Kabul on Wednesday said the surviving hostage was in poor health and with no access to medical treatment. The two engineers and five Afghans were seized Wednesday amid demands by the kidnappers that Germany pull out of Afghanistan.

The German government rejected the demand and the rebels later sought the release of 10 Taliban fighters from Afghan detention.

There are 3,000 German troops deployed in northern Afghanistan on provincial reconstruction missions. There are also six German Tornado warplanes carrying out surveillance missions for the ISAF.

The German Defense Ministry confirmed that the Tornado aircraft helped locate the hostage, while Afghan security forces were in the mountains but did not intervene.

Support needed for Afghanistan's neighbors

Both Merkel and Koenigs also appealed to the international community to increase assistance to Afghanistan's neighbors, particularly Pakistan, where a recent upsurge in violence by Islamic radicals and tribal militants is threatening the stability of President Pervez Musharraf's government.

"The stability of one country depends on the development chances in neighboring countries," Merkel said.