[shniad at sfu.ca: [R-G] Germany gives U.S. overflight rights]

[Hans Ehrbar]

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New York Times	 November 27, 2002

Germany gives U.S. overflight rights

Berlin -- Germany will grant U.S. military forces unrestricted overflights
and use of their bases in Germany in case of a war against Iraq, Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder announced Wednesday, part of his efforts to patch up a
bitter split with President Bush.

The chancellor, who strained U.S. relations with his staunch opposition to
an attack on Iraq, stood firm in his refusal to involve German soldiers
directly.

But he said Germany would guarantee “overflight rights for the United States
and other NATO member states that want them, smooth transit for troops of
the United States and the NATO members, (and) use of U.S. military
installations in Germany by the United States and the members.”

The decision, announced at a news conference, came in response to a U.S.
query to Germany about what support it could give to a military campaign
against Iraq. The Bush administration sent similar requests to about 50
other countries.

Schroeder said the request to Germany also asked in general terms about
possibly providing missile defense capabilities and defenses against
biological, chemical and nuclear warfare.

The U.S. request put Schroeder in a tight spot as he tries to repair
U.S.-German relations.

The chancellor's tough anti-war stance helped him win re-election in
September, but he recently softened on the issue. Last week, he met Bush at
a NATO summit in Prague and made clear he would not resist Germany's use as
a staging area for U.S. forces.

Still, Schroeder said Wednesday his government would not allow a German army
unit stationed in Kuwait that specializes in detecting nuclear, poison-gas
and germ warfare to be deployed outside its mandate of aiding in the war on
terrorism.

Germany says a war with Iraq falls outside that mandate.

Last week, a senior lawmaker in Schroeder's Social Democratic party,
Hans-Ulrich Klose, said the unit's 52 troops and six armored carriers used
as labs may have to offer “emergency help if soldiers or Kuwaiti civilians
face danger.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld indicated Tuesday that relations
with Germany remain strained regardless of Schroeder's intentions on Iraq.
Asked in Washington whether the differences would be resolved by German
participation, he said: “I don't know that that would do it.”

Schroeder also confirmed that Germany will provide Israel with Patriot
anti-missile systems, heeding a long-standing request that Israel recently
renewed amid concern over the threat of Iraqi missile attacks in case of
war.

Germany has “moral and historic reasons” to stand by Israel, and Patriot
missiles are “purely defensive systems,” Schroeder said. Defense Minister
Peter Struck said Germany could supply two Patriot batteries to Israel.

Schroeder said Israel also expressed interest in German armored carriers of
the type stationed in Kuwait, but said it had not specified how many of the
vehicles it wanted or in what circumstances.

“In principle, we have no objection” to providing them, the chancellor said.


Associated Press


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Germany-US-Iraq.html?ex=103
9405827&ei=1&en=83bd9a2c890a26d8

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