GERMANY: German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder asked US president George W Bush yesterday to support Germany's campaign for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council in a visit overshadowed by Mr Schröder's uphill battle for re-election.
In what could be Mr Schröder's last visit to the White House as chancellor, he told Mr Bush that, based on Germany's work in Afghanistan and training Iraqi troops and other international work, "we would very much hope that at some point in time we could also have a right to representation on the Security Council if there were the space".
Germany is one of four countries - alongside Brazil, India and Japan - that have submitted a resolution to increase the UN Security Council to 25 members from the current 15.
The United States, which openly supports a seat for Japan, has said it would prefer to add only two "or so" permanent members and two or three nonpermanent ones.
Mr Bush, angered when Germany joined other countries in foiling his push for a Security Council resolution authorising war in Iraq, was polite but noncommittal to Mr Schröder's request. "We oppose no country's bid for the Security Council," he said, a statement Mr Schröder welcomed.
Asked about Mr Schröder's electoral test expected in mid-September, Mr Bush praised him as a "a seasoned political campaigner". "As we say in Texas, this won't be his first rodeo," Mr Bush said to laughter.
On Iran, Mr Bush was critical of the election process: "It's never free and fair when a group of people, unelected people, get to decide who's on the ballot," he said. - (Reuters)