Germany Reaffirms Its Opposition to War on Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, February 09, 2003

Germany Reaffirms Its Opposition to War on Iraq

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer reiterated on Saturday that his country is opposed to resolving the Iraqi issue by force.

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German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer reiterated on Saturday that his country is opposed to resolving the Iraqi issue by force.

Speaking at the 39th Security Conference in Munich, Fischer said that Germany and the United States do not have big differences in the analysis of world-wide threat of terrorism and Germans share Americans' anger, worry and sadness from the September 22 attack.

However, Fischer said that Germany could not be convinced of giving priority to the use of war in solving the Iraqi issue and asked if Iraq should be the first target for the US government in face of such terrorist attacks as happened on New York and Washington.

Also speaking at the Munich conference, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld complained the delay of NATO countries in offering support for Turkey.

Turkey will be a front-line country if the United States and Britain launch a war on Iraq. The 19-member NATO failed to agree on formally asking military planners to look at measures to defend Turkey.

France, Germany and Belgium insisted that such planning could undermine diplomatic efforts to avert a conflict. The alliance has to decide by Monday whether to start the planning.

Rumsfeld said the move by the three countries is "inexcusable."

"I can't imagine doing that, it is beyond my comprehension...Turkey is a member of the alliance. To prevent defensive capabilities -- just the planning, not even deployment -- I think that is inexcusable."

"Those preventing the alliance from taking even minimum measures to prepare to do so risk undermining the credibility of the NATO alliance," Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld said "delaying preparations sends a signal of uncertainty, instead of a signal of unity and resolve."

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