Berlin  - Germany is considering appointing a special envoy on Afghanistan to liase with the new US envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman confirmed Saturday in Berlin.

The news magazine Der Spiegel said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had already chosen the envoy. He would be Bernd Muetzelburg, 65, the German ambassador to India, who would take leave from his embassy duties for the special role, Spiegel said.

But the spokeswoman declined to confirm this, saying no formal appointment had been made.

Washington had asked for a German official to concentrate on moves to solve the growing crisis in Afghanistan and Pakistan and to be available for Holbrooke to contact directly, the magazine said.

It said Holbrooke was seeking a contact group similar to that set up in the 1990s to handle talks on peace in former Yugoslavia. (dpa)