Rivals Closer To Clinch U.N. Deal On Iraq

As German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder headed for his first direct talks with U.S. President George W. Bush in more than a year, government sources insisted Wednesday’s talks, their first since May 2002, were designed to outline a "political future" and "common vision" on Iraq, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Germany wants "an inclusive strategy, not exclusive," the sources added to AFP, on condition of anonymity. They were "all partners" working on the same dossier.

Nevertheless, Schroeder will also meet Presidents Jacques Chirac of France and Vladimir Putin of Russia in New York immediately after seeing Bush.

The three, who all opposed the U.S.-led Iraq invasion, want to confer on their stance, the sources said.

But they strongly denied suggestions that the three were seeking some form of European "counter-axis" to Washington, which wants a UN resolution to share the military and financial burden of stabilizing and reconstructing Iraq.

The sources said Schroeder wanted to bring his conception of post-war Iraq closer to the U.S. viewpoint despite their differences over the war.

Berlin "is not pessimistic" of achieving progress, they added.

Schroeder was due to set off for New York early Monday evening after talks with Polish leaders.

On Tuesday, he will address the UN General Assembly, coincidentally 30 years after Germany joined the world body.

German diplomats say a weekend summit in Berlin, at which anti-war allies Schroeder and Chirac met with Bush’s closest ally British Prime Minister Tony Blair, showed that the opposing sides could work together.

They said their positions were not that far apart and that they all agreed on the need for a rapid transfer of power to local authorities in Iraq and a central role for the United Nations.

The critical question is how rapid a transfer, and how central a UN role. While Chirac wants a specific timetable, Blair, in line with Washington, does not want to commit himself.

According to AFP, analysts believe Schroeder has nuanced his stance away from France, a view seemingly supported by the government sources who said negotiators had to be "realistic" and "not lose a sense of proportion" over the fact that a transfer of power would take time.

Although it has refused to send troops to Iraq, Berlin has offered to help train Iraqi police and military independent of any UN resolution.

The German government is already ready to take part in a scheduled October 23-24 donors’ conference in Madrid on Iraq’s reconstruction.

Schroeder and Bush are also set to discuss Germany’s peacekeeping role in Afghanistan, the Middle East peace process and the risks of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, touching notably on North Korea and Iran.