Kabul - German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday to discuss a controversial new family law for the country's Shiite minority, Karzai's office said in a statement.

The new law, which was recently passed by parliament and signed by Karzai, is meant to legalize Shiite family law, but critics say it effectively bars women from leaving their homes without the permission of their husbands and that it legalizes "rape" within marriage.

"In this telephone conversation the two leaders talked about the mutual relations of the two countries and discussed the Shiite family law," Karzai's office said in a statement.

The statement did not elaborate on the two leaders' discussion on the new law that has been criticized for not protecting women's rights.

Merkel on Saturday joined other Western leaders in condemning the law and calling on the Afghan government to amend it.

Karzai on Saturday rejected criticism of the law, saying it had been "misinterpreted".

He promise to amend any article of the law found to violate women's rights. Karzai asked the Ministry of Justice to review the law and send it back to parliament. Afghanistan's post-Taliban constitution has assured equal rights men and women.

On Sunday, the Afghan Minister for Women's Affairs Husen Bano Qazanfar said no law could be passed in Afghanistan that restricts the rights of women.

During their conversation Sunday, Karzai also accepted an invitation from Merkel to visit German, according to the statement, in which no date was specified.