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German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Monday called on the defense ministers of the North Atlantic Organization Treaty countries to deal with the issue of possible military strike against Iraq by the United States at a meeting in Warsaw in September.
The German leader has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of German participation in such an attack. His stance "is so and it remains so. And there is nothing to change," he said.
Defense Minister Peter Struck supported Schroeder's suggestion that the NATO makes a preliminary decision on the attack on Iraq.
It is unimaginable that such an important issue would not be discussed at the meeting in Warsaw attended by NATO defense officials, he noted.
NATO officials said that the Iraq issue has not been on the agenda of the September NATO meeting so far. Struck reiterated Germany's independence over the Iraq issue, ruling out German participation in the possible war even if there is a mandate by the United Nations.
"We are not subject to an automatic operation even with an UN resolution," said Struck.
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer warned of a weakening of the international anti-terror-coalition due to "overhasty decision" on the Iraq.
The fight against international terrorism has the "highest priority" all along, he said to the Braunschweig Zeitung newspaper on Monday. "From my point of view the facts (about Iraq) have not changed," he noted.
(People's Daily August 13, 2002)
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