topic by
Tony Paterson
9/6/2002 (19:01) |
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Schröder says Germany will not join war on Iraq even with a mandate from UN
By Tony Paterson in Berlin
07 September 2002
The German government tried to defuse a conflict with America over its outspoken opposition to a war against Iraq yesterday by citing a letter sent 10 days ago by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to President George Bush that pledged solidarity with Washington's fight against terrorism.
At a special press conference, Uwe-Karsten Heye, the German government spokes-man, insisted relations between Washington and Berlin were good despite protests by the US ambassador to Berlin over Mr Schröder's increasingly vociferous anti-war stance.
'There are no irritations in the German-American relationship,' Mr Heye said, citing the letter from 28 August reasserting Germany's support for America against terrorism. 'Differences of opinion over Iraq bear no relation to our basic understanding,' he said.
Mr Heye's remarks followed unusually sharp criticism of Mr Schröder's position on Iraq by Dan Coats, the US envoy to Berlin, on Thursday. Mr Coats claimed that Germany was 'isolating itself even within Europe' because of its uncompromising attitude.
Mr Schröder hit back yesterday in an interview with The New York Times in which he insisted that Germany would not take part in such a conflict even if a United Nations mandate supported the idea. 'I think it would be a big mistake if this feeling of needing one another were destroyed by excessive unilateral action,' he said of America's stance.
Yesterday Germany's Foreign Ministry confirmed that Mr Coats had met Gunter Pleuger, a senior official, for a 'pragmatic' talk to clarify the German position on Iraq.
Germany's opposition parties rounded on the government yesterday over the debacle. Wolfgang Schaüble, the conservatives' foreign policy expert, called Mr Schröder's stance irresponsible and said: 'We can only hope that this is electioneering and that we can quickly pick up the pieces and repair the situation.'
One opinion poll released yesterday by German television showed only 4 per cent of voters backed German troops being used in a war with Iraq under any circumstances while 41 per cent said they were in favour if it was backed by a UN mandate. Fifty-three per cent were opposed to any involvement by German armed forces. Another poll yesterday by the Forsa group found 85 per cent of Germans supported their government's position on Iraq.
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