"That has to be the priority," Struck said of Iraq's offer to allow inspectors back in without condition

BERLIN, October 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A U.S. Congress vote authorizing use of force against Iraq does not change Germany's opposition to war on Iraq, German Defense Minister Peter Struck said Friday, October 11.

Asked to comment on the Congress vote, Struck reaffirmed that Germany still saw the top priority as getting U.N. weapons inspectors back into Iraq, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The vote "changes nothing" in Berlin's standpoint, he told Deutschlandfunk radio, drawing attention to the importance of Iraq's offer to allow inspectors back in without condition.

"That has to be the priority, and I believe it will also be part of any U.N. Security Council resolution," he added.

Washington has been outraged by Berlin's adamant opposition to war on Iraq, even with a U.N. mandate, to the point that U.S. President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder are no longer on speaking terms.

The United States claims that Schroeder's refusal to join in a fresh strike on Iraq, who Washington insists on accusing of developing alleged weapons of mass destruction, was little more than a vote-grabbing stunt ahead of general elections last month, according to AFP.

Relations between Berlin and Washington, once so cherished, have iced over. And Struck said they remained "difficult."

"The German-U.S. relationship is in a worse state than normal," he said. "On the other hand, I think we can normalize the relationship."

Struck said he hoped soon to meet U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld snubbed Struck, while pretending not to, during a NATO meeting in Warsaw last month by refusing to make time in his schedule to meet with him, referring to Struck as "that person".

The votes by the Senate and House of Representatives authorize Bush to use force against Iraq.

While Germany maintained its anti-war position, Australia hailed U.S. lawmakers for voting to give Bush broad authority to attack Iraq.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard remained coy, however, whether his government would join in any military strike.

"We've got a situation now where the U.S. president has the strong authority of the Congress" to launch a fresh war on Iraq, Howard said Friday after the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to give Bush the power to attack Baghdad.

Howard said the House vote, expected to be echoed in the Senate later Friday, would put added pressure on the United Nations to adopt a tough new resolution against Iraq.

"We now go to the United Nations. If we get a new resolution from the United Nations which is strong and enforceable and unconditional, then I think we will have made a great step forward," Howard said.

"I keep repeating that it is in the hands of Iraq to prevent any military conflict by responding to the concerns of the world and if it does that, then the legitimate concerns about military conflict being avoided can be met."

But Howard, one of the staunchest supporters of Bush's hard line on Iraq, still refused to be drawn on whether Australia would contribute forces to a U.S.-led military strike in Iraq, with or without U.N. backing.

That is "a hypothetical question," he said.

Apart from their government’s stance, many Australians have shown their opposition to the U.S. attack on Iraq as well to their country's participation in such attack through demonstrations earlier this month.

On October 5, the top secret Australian-U.S. Pine Gap military intelligence facility was sealed off as hundreds of demonstrators gathered to protest against Australian involvement in a U.S. orchestrated war in Iraq.  

The Australian government came under fire Wednesday, September 25, for dismissing its Defense department secretary Allan Hawke without explanation as it prepares for the possibility of war with Iraq.

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