March 24 (Bloomberg) -- Germany is pushing for NATO airborne warning and control system, or AWACS, surveillance planes to be sent to Afghanistan to help monitor and streamline air traffic, the German newspaper Die Welt reported.

German planes and helicopters comprise a major part of Afghanistan’s air traffic and Germany has a special interest in a speedy decision on the deployment, the newspaper quoted Bernd Siebert, defense policy spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, as saying.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders meeting in Strasbourg, France, next month should use the opportunity to announce the decision, Siebert told the newspaper.

France is blocking AWACS deployment in the NATO military committee, saying the planes are unnecessary and too expensive, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rainer Buergin in Berlin at rbuergin1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 24, 2009 04:37 EDT