Posted on 09/24/2003 8:21:54 AM PDT by Ex-Dem
BERLIN - A senior member of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's own party on Wednesday contradicted the German leader’s demand that the US swiftly hand over Iraqi sovereignty to leaders in Baghdad.
"Let me remind you again of the German example. It took four years (after the Nazi defeat in 1945) until we had a German government,” said Hans-Ulrich Klose, a member of Schroeder’s Social Democrats (SPD) and deputy chairman of the German Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
Klose, speaking in an NDR radio interview, noted that Iraq had far fewer structures and political leaders needed for nation-building than did Germany after the war.
"Where is the Konrad Adenauer of Iraq?” said Klose, a reference to the widely respected first chancellor of former West Germany who was elected in 1949.
Klose noted that while the United Nations was needed to legitimise rule in Baghdad it was the US which would have to stay in charge of security.
"It will take a great deal of time before Iraq is given full sovereignty,” cautioned Klose.
This comment appeared sharply at odds with Chancellor Schroeder who on Tuesday lined up with his anti-Iraq war ally France by demanding Washington hand over sovereignty to the Iraqi people “within months.”
Nevertheless, both Germany and France have indicated they will not block a new UN Security Council resolution on Iraq being drafted by the US
In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, US President George W. Bush underlined he would not be “hurried, nor delayed” regarding any handover of control in Baghdad.
Schroeder was due to address the UN later Wednesday after having his first one-on-one meeting with President Bush since last year.
Ties between the US and Germany have been chilled due to Berlin’s firm opposition to the Iraq war but both Schroeder and Bush appear determined to mend fences.
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