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Schröder ready to fight parliament over China Chancellor says issue is his responsibility 01. April 2005 F.A.Z. Weekly. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder says he is prepared to overlook the views of the German parliament in his effort to get the European Union to lift its embargo on weapons sales to China. ”I take every vote by the parliament seriously,” Schröder said in an interview that appeared on Wednesday in the weekly newspaper Die Zeit. ”But the constitution is clear. … The constitution says that foreign policy is conducted by the federal government.” The Social Democrat's comments focused on an issue that...

Bush, Schroeder Put Bitter War Feud Behind Them By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder put their bitter feud over the Iraq war behind them on Friday but Schroeder brought up a new problem: the dollar's weakness against the euro. "We've had differences in the past. But there's nothing wrong with friends having differences and we are both committed to put the differences behind us and move forward," Bush told reporters as he and Schroeder sat side-by-side in the Oval Office. Schroeder said he told Bush of German concerns about the weakness of the...

US keeps Germany, France out of Iraq work -official Reuters, 01.11.04, 10:27 AM ET AMMAN, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Companies from countries that opposed the Iraq war remain barred from bidding for $5 billion in U.S.-funded reconstruction contracts, a U.S. official said on Sunday, despite hints the United States could soften its stance. "With the current RFPs (Requests for Proposals) there has been no change to the original position," Retired Adm. David Nash, who is in charge of the Pentagon-run Program Management Office, said on the sidelines of an Iraqi reconstruction conference in Jordan. He declined to say whether the...

BERLIN, Dec 10 (Reuters) - The German government said on Wednesday it would be unacceptable for the United States to bar firms from countries which opposed the war in Iraq from competing for prime contracts to rebuild the country. In a policy document released on Tuesday, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said he was limiting competition for 26 reconstruction contracts worth up to $18.6 billion that will be advertised in coming days. He cited national security reasons for the exclusion of firms from countries that opposed the war including France and Germany. They may bid for sub-contracts. Chancellor Gerhard...

U.S. Bars Iraq Contracts for Nations That Opposed War By DOUGLAS JEHL WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 — The Pentagon has barred French, German and Russian companies from competing for $18.6 billion in contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq, saying the step "is necessary for the protection of the essential security interests of the United States." The directive, which was issued by the deputy defense secretary, Paul D. Wolfowitz, represents perhaps the most substantive retaliation to date by the Bush administration against American allies who opposed its decision to go to war in Iraq. The administration had warned before the war...

U.S. Shuts Out France, Germany for Iraq Work 2 hours, 19 minutes ago Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Sue Pleming WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Citing national security reasons, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz has ruled that prime contracts to rebuild Iraq (news - web sites) will exclude firms from nations such as France and Germany that opposed the U.S. war. Reuters Photo Latest headlines: · General says US winning in Iraq despite attacks AFP - 46 minutes ago · Suicide bomber blows up car wounding 58 US soldiers at base near Mosul AFP - 1 hour, 16...

The German government denied Saturday a report that the country could send soldiers to Iraq as part of NATO troops. The "Bild am Sonntag" newspaper, to be published Sunday, quoted Javier Solana, EU high representative for security issues as saying that Germany was in principle no longer against participating in military action in Iraq. He said that he had got this impression from his meeting earlier this week in Berlin with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. If the United Nations asks NATO to contribute forces to stabilize situation in Iraq, every member of the alliance will be asked again to be...

<p>Kuwait said yesterday it will offer "generous aid" at an Iraq donors conference opening today in Madrid, but France and Germany said they would be offering no new funds for postwar reconstruction.</p> <p>Kuwait, which has already spent $900 million on humanitarian aid to its neighbor, is one of more than 70 nations gathering for the two-day conference, where U.S. officials are hoping to capitalize on the spirit of last week's unanimous U.N. Security Council vote.</p>

Wednesday August 20th, 2003, 17:42 Berlin also not sending any soldiers even after the attack on the UN Berlin (dpa) -- The Federal Government is not considering a German Armed Forces deployment even after the devastating attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq. The Federal Government explained in Berlin on Wednesday that the question never arose. In the opinion of the Union [CDU - lj], this refusal endangers the consent of the USA to a broader mandate by the United Nations. Coalition and opposition support a stronger role by the UN and spoke in dismay about the death of...

THE French and Germans are scrambling for lucrative Iraqi contracts — despite bitter opposition to the war.Their recession-hit firms are desperate to cash in on rebuilding the country wrecked by Saddam’s 25-year tyranny.French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder are backing their firms’ bids.It puts them in direct competition with Britain, which put lives on the line to oust Saddam.Around £100BILLION is to be spent on new telecoms, schools, hospitals, power stations, highways and oil pipelines. One of the biggest contracts up for grabs is for rebuilding Umm Qasr seaport. Tony Blair wants that order to go to...

BERLIN: Germany has ruled out sending troops to Iraq to assist US-led forces in stabilizing the war-shattered country, government spokesman Thomas Steg said on Monday. "Our position is clear. The government is abiding by its stance not to engage militarily in Iraq," Steg told reporters, noting the government had not been formally asked for help by the United States. Steg was asked about the German position after Defence Minister Peter Struck said in a weekend newspaper interview he could envisage NATO assuming a role in post-war Iraq and said that German peacekeeping troops could join such a mission. Struck had...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon has awarded a $1 million contract to paint its headquarters to a small Ohio company after initially giving the job to a German firm, U.S. Congressman Steve LaTourette announced Thursday. LaTourette, an Ohio Republican, had questioned why a Germany company would get a Pentagon contract at a time when German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was among the most vocal opponents of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. LaTourette said he had convinced the Pentagon in June to re-examine the awarding of the initial contract to the German company Keimfarben after ChemMasters Specialty Construction Co., based in Madison,...

<p>Stefana Bosse is a German teenager living in London -- and in fear. She never sits on the upper level of the city's red double-decker buses, and carefully scans the other passengers before she gets on. And she never speaks German in public.</p>

German Trade With United States Drops, Blamed by Some on Animosity Over IraqThe Associated PressPublished: Jul 7, 2003 FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - German exports to the United States fell in May by 11.5 percent to euro5.1 billion ($5.9 billion) according to figures released Monday, a decline the country's wholesalers association blamed on tension between the two countries over the war in Iraq. Others, however, blamed the drop on the slow U.S. economy and the sharp increase in the strength of the euro, which makes German products much pricier in dollars. But the Federation of German Wholesale and Foreign Trade...

Schröder meeting with Powell fails to heal Iraq rift By Tony Paterson, in Berlin 17 May 2003 The German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, failed to repair the "poisoned" relationship between Berlin and Washington when he met the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, yesterday during the first visit to Germany by a top US government official since the fallout between the two countries over the Iraq war. George Bush has not spoken to Mr Schröder since Germany's decision to oppose armed intervention in Iraq. The row was exacerbated by Germany's former justice minister, who compared the US President to Adolf Hitler....

Schroeder builds bridges to U.S. after Iraq row BERLIN, May 9 (Reuters) - Chancellor Gerhard Schroedersaid on Friday that Germany and the United States were more united than divided as he tried to mend ties soured by his vocal opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. "Germany and the United States are bound by a vital friendship. This friendship is founded on a solid basis of common experience and common values," Schroeder said according to the text of a speech he began giving to mark the 100th anniversary of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany. He said a debate...

Bush official says U.S. deeply hurt by German moves By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN, May 2 (Reuters) - The first U.S. cabinet member to visit Berlin since a rift between the two countries over the Iraq war said on Friday the United States felt betrayed and deeply hurt by the row. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick also said Washington was watching warily moves such as "odd meetings" led by Germany and France to boost European defence integration and that the creation of a European counterweight to the United States was harmful for transatlantic relations. But he told journalists that he believed...

<p>Munich -- POLNot so long ago, prominent German politicians were outdoing each other forecasting worst-case scenarios for the Iraq conflict. The predictions ranged from "millions of victims of U.S. rockets" to "millions of Iraqi refugees desperately fleeing the country."</p> <p>While few are willing yet to eat their words publicly, the media is having a field day with the wildly inaccurate pronouncements.</p>

US begins payback drive So far the payback campaign is symbolic, but observers worry the tone could worsen in the looming UN debate over the shape of post-war Iraq, and could trigger a trade war. “It's posturing mainly,” said Phyllis Bennis, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Policy Studies. “But the extraordinary thing is, there hasn't been any let-up.” Among members of the UN Security Council, the principle victim of Washington's displeasure has been Chile, which had been about to sign a free trade agreement with the US. The deal had been bundled with a similar pact for Singapore,...

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on Saturday he deeply regretted "exaggerated remarks" critical of U.S. moves against Iraq (news - web sites) that soured his relations with President Bush (news - web sites). In a further attempt to repair U.S.-German relations strained by his outspoken criticism, Schroeder said he was confident the dispute over Iraq would not cause long-term problems between the two countries. "I deeply regret there were exaggerated comments -- also from cabinet members of my previous government," Schroeder told Der Spiegel magazine when asked if there were "grounds for self-criticism" for damage he caused...