Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has delivered a thinly-veiled swipe at US plans for Iraq, saying the country's reconstruction will involve more than "repairing oil wells" and "giving licences to companies". Derek Scally, in Berlin
Mr Schröder called for the Iraqi people to be allowed decide their own future and for the country's reconstruction to take place under the auspices of the UN.
"Iraq's territorial independence must remain. Its independence and political sovereignty must be completely restored," said Mr Schröder in parliament yesterday.
"The oil deposits and natural resources of the country must remain in the possession and under the control of the Iraqi people for their benefit."
He said the UN must play a central role in the future of Iraq, but warned against "speculating about the details of the reconstruction necessary".
The Middle East needed a process of "political stabilisation", he said, to "create a perspective of a life of peace and prosperity" for the people in the region.
Over 90 per cent of Germans want Berlin to help with the post-war reconstruction of Iraq, either with financial aid or military aid or both, according to an opinion poll for Stern magazine.
The same poll found that 89 per cent of Germans no longer think the US is a role model country, a remarkable opinion shift in a country where many still remember America's post-war reconstruction aid and its support during the Cold War.
Mr Schröder played down any ideas of a rift with Washington and London over Iraq.