Afghanistan, Pakistan need more help-UN, Germany

BERLIN, July 24 (Reuters) The international community must increase support to Afghanistan's neigbours, including Pakistan, if peace efforts in the region are to succeed, the top UN envoy to Afghanistan said today.

Special UN representative for Afghanistan Tom Koenigs told reporters after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel that international efforts aimed at stablising Afghanistan would have to be expanded to embrace Pakistan.

''We will need additional support to end the threat, additional support for the entire region,'' Koenigs said after a meeting with Merkel and other top German officials.

''We see in Pakistan that stabilisation efforts have suffered setbacks. This means engagement in the entire region is necessary in order to ensure security, not only for Afghanistan but also in an international context.'' German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed it was necessary to increase aid to Pakistan and surrounding countries.

''We need to look at our mission not in a limited way but rather to consider the entire region,'' Merkel said.

However, she spoke only of boosting aid to help the region meet the United Nations' so-called ''Millennium Goals'' aimed at dramatically reducing poverty by 2015.

The porous Pakistani border with Afghanistan snakes 2,500 km through rocky mountains and across deserts, and is considered a front line in the US-led war on terrorism.

Washington has accused Islamabad of not doing enough to stop Taliban fighters from crossing the border into Afghanistan. Pakistan rejects this, saying it is doing all it can but needs help from the West to monitor the borders and relocate refugees back inside Afghanistan.

Afghan militants seized two German engineers working on aid projects in Afghanistan last week. One of them died in capitivity and the Foreign Ministry believes the other is alive.

Merkel provided no new details about hostage situation.

However, she made clear that Germany should fully renew its Afghanistan peacekeeping mandate in the fall. Germany has over 3,000 troops in the country, mostly in the relatively stable north.

Separately, Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler reiterated that Berlin might send more troops to Afghanistan. ''We can't rule it out,'' he told reporters at the ministry.

REUTERS RJ BD2257