US cool at German move to heal war of words over Iraq

WASHINGTON - Despite German overtures, the White House was in no mood for reconciliation yesterday when German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder won re-election with an anti-American campaign that United States officials said poisoned relations.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld snubbed his German counterpart by refusing a meeting on the sidelines of an informal Nato Defence Ministers gathering in Warsaw.

And a senior US official said the German Chancellor and his Government "have a lot of work to do to repair the damage that he did by his excesses during the campaign".

Schroeder's campaign on a theme of strong opposition to a potential US-led war against Iraq has exposed a widening political gulf that may be hard to repair and could extend to much of Europe, analysts said.

Germany has moved to ease the rift, with Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer phoning US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

A US official said the call was an attempt to start to address the issues.

Schroeder said his new Cabinet would not include Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, who angered US President George W. Bush last week by saying Bush used the same technique as Hitler had in seeking to use war to detract from domestic issues.

Schroeder said ties would weather the troubles.

"The basis of the relationship between Germany and the United States is so secure that the fears that were played up during the election campaign are unfounded," he told a news conference.

US officials made clear the burden was on Germany to heal the damage.

But analysts said Schroeder's victory could make the campaign stances harder to retract, perhaps even hastening the day when the huge US troop presence that protected Germany during the Cold War was reduced.

- REUTERS

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