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Powell hopes for more German help in Iraq next year
Berlin, Dec 05: US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said he hoped that Germany, a fierce opponent of the US-led war in Iraq, would feel able to give more help to the country when Iraqis are granted more control.
Berlin, Dec 05: US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said he hoped that Germany, a fierce opponent of the US-led war in Iraq, would feel able to give more help to the country when Iraqis are granted more control.
Powell told Germany's ARD television in an interview recorded during a visit to Nato in Brussels that he hoped Germany would consider doing more next year when the US-led administration transfers more power to an Iraqi authority.
As Washington's own costs and casualties mount in Iraq, Powell urged Nato partners in Brussels on Thursday to consider a more prominent role for the alliance in postwar Iraq. He told a news conference that no ally had objected to the proposal. Diplomats expect that Germany and fellow war opponent, France, would insist on a bigger UN. Role, an invitation from a recognised Iraqi authority and a mandate independent of the US-British occupiers as the price for Nato involvement.
Powell told ARD that if Nato took on a bigger role in Iraq, Germany might find it possible to do more. So far, Germany has offered humanitarian assistance and to help train Iraqi police. Powell said he had no idea when deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would be caught, but that he hoped German viewers recognised that Iraq was better off without Saddam.
He described relations with Germany as ''excellent'' and constantly improving after the row over the Iraq war, noting the depth of ties between the two previously close allies.
Bureau Report
As Washington's own costs and casualties mount in Iraq, Powell urged Nato partners in Brussels on Thursday to consider a more prominent role for the alliance in postwar Iraq. He told a news conference that no ally had objected to the proposal. Diplomats expect that Germany and fellow war opponent, France, would insist on a bigger UN. Role, an invitation from a recognised Iraqi authority and a mandate independent of the US-British occupiers as the price for Nato involvement.
Powell told ARD that if Nato took on a bigger role in Iraq, Germany might find it possible to do more. So far, Germany has offered humanitarian assistance and to help train Iraqi police. Powell said he had no idea when deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would be caught, but that he hoped German viewers recognised that Iraq was better off without Saddam.
He described relations with Germany as ''excellent'' and constantly improving after the row over the Iraq war, noting the depth of ties between the two previously close allies.
Bureau Report