SPD in danger of split

Bonn - Germany's opposition Social Democrats (SPD) faced a dangerous split in their ranks yesterday after a group of deputies launched an assault on the party's leading candidate for chancellor. A leaked internal strategy paper from the party's leftwing raised doubts about whether pro-business Lower Saxony state premier, Mr Gerhard Schroeder, was the best candidate to challenge Chancellor Helmut Kohl in national elections in September.