Berlin - The German embassy in Kabul opened for business yesterday with the presentation by Ambassador Rainer Eberle of his credentials to the Afghan Foreign Minister, Mr Abdullah Abdullah, the foreign ministry said. "With the accreditation of the ambassador, the German embassy in Kabul is fully functional as of the beginning of the year," the ministry said in a statement.
Then West Germany closed its diplomatic mission in Kabul in 1989 but never fully broke off diplomatic relations with Afghanistan. Mr Eberle was nominated by the German government to re-open the embassy shortly after the conclusion of the Bonn conference on December 7th which established an interim government for Afghanistan.