Germany, France push for Iraqi sovereignty

BERLIN -- France signaled Thursday it would help Germany train a new Iraqi police force as both nations renewed their pressure for quickly handing over the country's government to the Iraqis.\nFrench President Jacques Chirac, speaking after talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, emphasized he would like to see the transfer of power in postwar Iraq as soon as possible -- "in a matter of months, not years."\n"That is our common assessment," Chirac told reporters after the German-French summit at the chancellery in Berlin.\nFrance has demanded a quick timetable on transferring power as a condition for accepting a U.S.-proposed resolution on Iraq at the United Nations. Last week, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin called for a provisional government in a month, a draft constitution by year's end and elections next spring.\nChirac's remarks about "months" did not signal a change of position, a French presidential spokesman said.\nThe White House declined to comment on Chirac's remarks until more could be learned about his position.\nThe U.S. draft resolution seeks more money and peacekeeping troops for Iraq -- but debate over it has focused on the future U.N. role in Iraq and restoring the country's sovereignty. Russia and China also want a quick restoration of Iraq's sovereignty, though perhaps not as fast as the French proposal.\nChirac also endorsed an offer by Schroeder to help train new Iraqi police leaders in Germany, which Schroeder renewed at Thursday's news conference.\n"It is self-evident that if the chancellor reaffirms this position here, France will take the same position," Chirac said, though he appeared to stop short of an explicit offer of help.\nHowever, the French presidential spokesman said Chirac was indeed offering to train Iraqi police.\nGermany and France strongly opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq, which divided Europe.\nOn Saturday, Chirac and Schroeder meet pro-war British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Berlin in an effort to seek a common stand.\nShades of differences emerged Thursday even between France and Germany, despite their common goal of a greater U.N. role and an early handover of power from the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.\nSchroeder, in a newspaper interview, said Germany was ready to train Iraqi police even without a new U.N. resolution. A French delegation source, speaking on condition of anonymity, made plain that Paris would wait for a resolution.\nSchroeder called for a "road map" for handing over authority to an Iraqi government.\n"However, no one can really say at this time whether elections can be held in Iraq in 2004," Schroeder told the Handelsblatt business daily. "The priority now is just to get the process going."\nThe United States has said it supports the return to sovereignty in Iraq, but has resisted being tied to a timetable.\nSchroeder's overtures came before a possible meeting with President Bush next week on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. The two leaders fell out last year after Schroeder won re-election on an anti-war platform.\nIn Washington, a senior U.S. official said of the German offer of help: "The more, the better."\nChirac and Schroeder also unveiled a plan to increase spending on research and development and infrastructure in a bid to boost Europe's lagging economy and create jobs. The projects involve telecommunications, extending high-speed rail networks and a European satellite system.\nNeither leader gave details on how the program would be financed.\n"The most important result of this meeting is our shared conviction that Europe cannot wait for growth, but must seek it out," Chirac said.\nSchroeder insisted European governments are allowed leeway under European Union rules designed to limit budget deficits to 3 percent of gross national product. Both France and Germany are now above the limit.