GERMANY: Germany's Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schröder, was expected to reiterate his opposition to a war with Iraq when he met the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, in London yesterday evening.
The British government's dossier on Iraq had not changed Berlin's position, according to Mr Franz Münterfering, the new Social Democrat (SPD) parliamentary leader.
"Naturally we will stick with our position [on Iraq]. We are of different opinion," he said yesterday. Asked how Berlin intended to repair relations with Washington, he replied: "That depends on whether or not you think relations have been strained. Both sides have to show a will to see things restored."
Earlier Mr Gernot Erler, an SPD spokesman on foreign affairs, said the dossier contained "nothing new".
However, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said Mr Erler's comments were "not helpful" and that the ministry was "carefully studying" the dossier.
The conservative opposition accused Mr Schröder of playing for time yesterday. "The information in the dossier is already known by the German secret service and the Chancellor," said Mr Volker Rühe, a CDU defence spokesman.
Mr Schröder's visit to London coincided with a new attempt by the German Defence Minister to patch up relations with Washington. At the NATO conference in Warsaw, Mr Peter Struck suggested that Germany could share the leadership of troops in Afghanistan with the Netherlands. He said he was still hoping to speak to his US counterpart, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, on the fringes of the conference.
On Monday Mr Rumsfeld had said he had no plans to meet any German representatives.