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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (3131)	1/22/2003 9:16:42 AM
From: Ed Huang	Respond to of 25898

Schroeder won't back new resolution on Iraq Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Wednesday the world can expect Germany and France to 'join forces to preserve peace, avoid war and ensure people's security.' Photo: Francois Mori/AP Associated Press Berlin — Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has made plain that Germany will refuse to back a resolution calling for war against Iraq at the UN Security Council, ending weeks of hedging and aligning himself more closely with his main European partner, France. Mr. Schroeder's clearest position yet is likely to further displease U.S. President George W. Bush, who this week scolded countries that are seeking to allow United Nations weapons inspectors more time to search Iraq. "Don't expect Germany to approve a resolution legitimizing war. Don't expect it," Mr. Schroeder told a rally of his Social Democratic party Tuesday night in Lower Saxony. That followed similar statements by France, which said this week that it sees no justification for a war now and left open the possibility of a French veto if the United States seeks a new Security Council resolution authorizing military action. Mr. Schroeder has already ruled out a German combat role in any war in Iraq. He has maintained an uneasy balance for months between his country's alliance with the United States and strong domestic anti-war sentiment, which helped him win re-election last year. Built on defiance of Washington, his platform has left U.S.-German ties strained. Though it wields no veto, Germany is set to assume a central role in diplomacy with Iraq when it takes over the council chairmanship in February, just after UN inspectors submit their progress report on Jan. 27. German and French leaders, who have agreed to consult closely on Iraq, reinforced their stance in newspaper articles published Wednesday in Germany's Berliner Zeitung and France's Liberation. "In the crises involving terrorism, Iraq and North Korea, our peoples can count on the governments of Germany and France to join forces to preserve peace, avoid war and ensure people's security," Mr. Schroeder wrote. French President Jacques Chirac said: "Our aim is to put the power of Europe at the service of peace. That underlines our actions in Afghanistan and in the Iraq crisis." The German Chancellor has previously said that Germany would decide how it would vote in the Security Council only when a second Iraq resolution takes shape. But Defence Minister Peter Struck admitted last week that a vote in favour was "basically not imaginable anymore." Mr. Schroeder did not specify whether Germany would vote against a resolution or abstain, but he said Berlin's position was increasingly being "understood by the European partners and in the world." While seeking partnership with France, Germany has gone even further than Paris in its antiwar stance. The French have left open the possibility of military action against Saddam Hussein as a last resort, but Mr. Schroeder has not. sympatico.globeandmail.com