IRAK

Reuters: Schroeder Says Germany, France to Push for Peace

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Wednesday Germany and France would coordinate all their efforts to prevent a war against Iraq after announcing Germany would not support any U.N. resolution authorizing an attack.

In his strongest anti-war statement to date, Schroeder said in a campaign speech late Tuesday that Germany, which holds a non-veto seat in the U.N. Security Council, would not vote for any resolution seeking authority for a strike against Iraq.

Schroeder also wrote in an article Wednesday for the Berliner Zeitung newspaper that Germany and France, which holds a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, would work closely together to secure peace and avoid war.

"I have told our French friends, and the others as well, and I'll say it here, going a bit further in this question than I have in the past: Do not expect that Germany will agree to a resolution that legitimizes war, do not reckon with it," Schroeder told a cheering campaign rally in Goslar.