Former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt has said he opposes boycotting this year's Olympic Games in Beijing and believes in non-interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.

"I don't think anything of a boycott" of the Beijing games, Schmidt said in an interview with the German weekly Die Zeit published on Wednesday.

"I would appreciate it if international sports remained as free as possible from political influences," he added.

The former German leader also said he was bothered by "the missionary mania of some American politicians that it is their duty and their allies to push through their notion of order throughout the world."

Schmidt said he firmly believes in "the international law principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state."

(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2008)