Schröder Urges Extra Time For Weapons Inspectors

After hearing U.N. inspectors report on their hunt for weapons in Iraq, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder called on Tuesday for the teams to have more time to complete their mission.

And if those findings eventually turn out to be damning, the chancellor said the U.N. Security Council would have to vote in a second resolution on whether to unleash the U.S.-led force being deployed in the Persian Gulf region. "As far as I can tell, that is also the position of a majority on the Security Council," Schröder said in a radio interview set for broadcast on Tuesday evening.

The interview was one of two that the chancellor, the target of U.S. criticism for his opposition to any war on Iraq, gave a day after chief inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei discussed the results of their work with the Security Council.

Among other things, they said Iraq hadn't cleared up questions about its banned weapons and had failed to cooperate fully with inspectors. In response, White House officials said Monday that the administration would soon release more evidence to back its assertions that Saddam possesses chemical and biological weapons, and had links to the al-Qaida terrorist network.

Schröder defends opposition to war

Schröder, in a newspaper interview, also defended his pledge to vote against any Security Council resolution authorizing a war on Iraq. "Our course is right, and it is gaining more and more support," he told the Passaeur Neuen Presse in an interview published on Wednesday.

Schröder picked up support for his efforts to gain more time for the inspectors from the country's major opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union. "In my opinion, everyone wants the inspectors to get more time," party chairwoman Angela Merkel said in a radio interview.

But the party's spokesman on foreign affairs, Friedbert Pflüger, placed a restriction on the party's backing of an extension. "The members of the U.N. Security Council must set a definite date -- say the end of February -- in order to keep the pressure on Saddam," Pflüger told the German news agency dpa.

Stoiber wants to avoid war

The premier of the state of Bavaria, Edmund Stoiber -- who also heads the CDU’s sister party in the state, the Christian Social Union -- said every effort must be made to find a peaceful solution. Stoiber, the Union parties' candidate for chancellor last year, added that a unilateral U.S. military strike would be "unacceptable." The decisive body in this matter "must remain the United Nations and the Security Council," he said.

While the politicians talked, British forces stationed in Germany continued their preparations for deployment to the Persian Gulf region. About 30 ships are expected to set sail next week from the German port of Emden, loaded with armored vehicles and trucks, said a spokeswoman for the forces, Helga Heine.