Schroeder softens anti-war stand on Iraq at summit

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has softened his opposition to a war on Iraq after patching up relations with President Bush at the NATO summit, and he made it plain that Germany would serve as a staging area in any invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.

Though Schroeder restated his refusal to commit German troops, his remarks on Friday contrasted with the strident anti-war stand that helped him win re-election in September and soured relations with Bush.

As the summit ended, Schroeder spoke of "our American friends" and stopped short of repeating past arguments that attacking Iraq would be "a mistake."

Asked by a reporter whether the United States could count on using crucial bases in Germany and German airspace in a war on Iraq, he said: "Of course we do not intend to limit our friends' freedom of movement."

Schroeder sidestepped the question in the past. But the return of U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq and the Security Council's threat of "serious consequences" if Saddam fails to cooperate has put Germany on the spot.

Schroeder reiterated that Germany would take no direct role in any war on Iraq.

"There will be no military participation by Germany," he said Friday.

Specialized German unit

But that pledge may be hard to keep because Germany has an army unit specialized in detecting nuclear, poison gas and germ warfare stationed in Kuwait, a senior member of Schroeder's governing party said Friday.

The unit, with 52 troops and six armored carriers that serve as labs on wheels, may have to offer "emergency help if soldiers or Kuwaiti civilians face danger," said Hans-Ulrich Klose, the head of the German parliament's foreign affairs committee.

"If push comes to shove, we could not refuse that," he said on German radio.

Schroeder's emerging shift on Iraq complicates his leadership in Germany, where he is already battling opposition charges that he misled voters about the country's economic problems during the election campaign.

Like most European countries, Germany also remains under U.S. pressure to boost military spending.

Defense Minister Peter Struck said Friday that Germany was reviewing its budget to see how it can contribute to a new 21,000-strong NATO rapid reaction force.

But Schroeder insisted that Germany, currently facing a budget crunch, has "limited resources" for the military.

For his part, Bush appeared to make allowance for a reluctant Germany at the Prague summit by saying that any war on Iraq would involve "a coalition of the willing."

Bush had a polite chat with Schroeder at a black-tie NATO summit dinner Wednesday, their first meeting since U.S.-German relations hit their lowest point in decades over Bush's Iraq policy. They shook hands and had what Bush called a "cordial" encounter.

In contrast, Bush had longer, one-on-one meetings with other NATO leaders such as British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac. He also was effusively praised by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during one of the summit's round-table sessions.