LONDON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Afghanistan wants a British NATO commander to become its U.N. envoy rather than politician Paddy Ashdown, the country's ambassador to the United Nations said on Saturday.

A Western source close to talks over the post said earlier this month that Britain's Ashdown, the former U.N. High Representative and EU special envoy for Bosnia, had agreed with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to take the job.

However, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been seeking clarity about Ashdown's role, state newspapers reported.

U.N. ambassador Zahir Tanin told the BBC World Service that Afghanistan had now proposed Britain's General John McColl as its preferred candidate. "Our current proposal is that we would like to see General McColl as the new special representative for Afghanistan. That is what President Karzai has made clear to the Secretary General of the United Nations," Tanin told the BBC.

McColl was the first commander of Kabul's international peacekeeping operation established after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 and has also served as Britain's special envoy for the anti-drug effort in Afghanistan.

He is currently NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

"It is not about choosing between a general and a politician. The idea is how to have someone who would be able to play an effective role in dealing with the complicated situation in Afghanistan," Tanin said.

Karzai is wary that a powerful "super-envoy", particularly one from former colonial power Britain, might make his government appear weaker than it already is, diplomats say. (Reporting by Keith Weir; editing by Myra MacDonald)

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