Lafontaine opposes war

Germany's former finance minister, Mr Oskar Lafontaine, made a dramatic return to the political stage on Saturday with a biting attack on NATO's military campaign against Yugoslavia. Speaking at a May Day rally in his home town of Saarbrucken, the former minister condemned the campaign as ill-conceived and called for an immediate halt to air strikes.

Mr Lafontaine's remarks place him in open conflict with the government he walked out of in March, but his opposition to NATO's campaign is shared by a growing number within his Social Democratic Party.

A May Day speech by the Defence Minister, Mr Rudolf Scharping, was almost drowned out by cries of "murderer" from a group of anti-war protesters. Mr Lafontaine was forced to distance himself from a poster carried by one member of his audience which depicted the Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, as Hitler.

Mr Lafontaine claimed that NATO's policy towards Kosovo had led Europe and the US down a blind alley and he called for Russia and the UN to be given a bigger role in finding a solution.

"If you want international peace, you must strengthen international law. There is no other way. International law can only be constituted in the UN," he said.