Berlin - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Saturday he would prepare a timetable for a German pullout from Afghanistan if his Social Democrats (SPD) win next month's election.

As chancellor, Steinmeier said he would "press for us to work out clear perspectives with the new Afghan government for a continuation and the end of military involvement."

Steinmeier, who was speaking to the news magazine Der Spiegel, did not name a concrete date for a German pullout, saying to do so would be "irresponsible."

Germany has around 4,500 troops serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, the largest contingent after the United States and Britain.

But the deployment is unpopular with many German voters and has become an issue in the run-up to the September 27 general election which Steinmeier hopes will see him unseat Angela Merkel as chancellor.

Voters in Afghanistan went to to the polls on Thursday to elect a new president.

Steinmeier told Der Spiegel he would like to negotiate a "withdrawal scenario" as part of an extension to the Afghanistan Compact, the agreement which provides the framework for international community engagement in Afghanistan until 2010.

He said any new arrangement should include clear goals for the phased takeover of security responsibilities by the Afghan police and armed forces.

"Our goal is to hand over the country as quickly as possible to the full control of a democratically elected government," the foreign minister said.

Last month German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said the country's armed forces could be in Afghanistan for up to 10 more years "until the security situation stabilizes for good." (dpa)