Berlin  - Germany was urged to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in a video believed to have been made by a member of the terrorist network Al-Qaeda.

A German-speaker wearing a black turban and facecloth that left only his eyes visible spoke in the 30-minute video, which was posted on the internet on Saturday.

The message, delivered by a man calling himself "Abu Talha, the German," was titled "Rescue Plan for Germany". It contained Arabic subtitles.

It made no direct threats against Germany, but said the country was "gullible and naive" to believe it could "emerge unscathed" from having the third-biggest contingent of foreign troops in Afghanistan.

The message, dated October 2008, appeared on the same day as a car bomb killed five people, including a US soldier, near the German embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul.

Afghanistan's radical Taliban movement claimed responsibility. for the blast, which injured 30 persons, among them a German and two other embassy staffers.

The German parliament approved legislation in October, increasing the number of German troops serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan to 4,500.

The Washington-based IntelCenter, a US security organization that specializes in screening Islamist internet pages, said the video appeared to have been produced by al-Qaeda.

"This is the most significant and high-profile address by al-Qaeda to Germany and perhaps any European country," the centre said. dpa