WASHINGTON, September 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Deeply angered by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s rejection of an upcoming U.S. war on 12-year-sanction-hit Iraq, the United States snubbed Monday, September 23, his election win saying he would have a lot of work to heal poisoned ties.

Schroeder's strong opposition to military action against Iraq and an alleged comment by the former justice minister comparing President George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler caused deep offense at the White House, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer ignored reporters' questions on whether Bush had contacted Schroeder after the Chancellor's win.

Although Bush routinely offers congratulations by telephone, Fleischer curtly said the U.S. State Department was the appropriate agency from which to seek reaction.

But at the State Department, officials said spokesman Richard Boucher was preparing only to "note" Sunday's results without any laudatory comment, the diplomatic equivalent of a slap in the face.

A senior official traveling with Bush on a trip to New Jersey said it would take a considerable effort by Schroeder's government "to improve relations, which have been damaged between the governments."

"Chairman Schroeder and his government have a lot of work to repair the damage that he did by his excesses during the campaign," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

A State Department official said Boucher would not go beyond "noting" the election results in which Schroeder's Social Democrat Party and the Green Party which squeaked to victory.

"We will say that the rhetoric of the campaign was harsh, but we have a common agenda and we intend to continue to work on that agenda," the official said.

"It will be something anodyne but which makes our displeasure known and keeps the coolness in place," the official said on condition of anonymity.

By contrast, Boucher was expected to "welcome" weekend elections in Slovakia, where four moderate parties took power at the weekend, the official said, adding: "The difference between the reactions will be noticeable."

The White House first made blistering criticism of the Schroeder campaign last week. At the weekend, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice told a German newspaper the chancellor had "poisoned" U.S.-German relations, a comment repeated Monday by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"The way it was conducted was notably unhelpful and as the White House has indicated had the effect of poisoning a relationship," Rumsfeld told reporters in Warsaw, where he is attending a NATO meeting.

Schroeder has been vocal in his opposition to a U.S. military strike on Iraq and has been critical of Bush, but the U.S. has been angered by German Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin’s alleged comparison of Bush's methods on Iraq to those of Adolf Hitler.

Both Bush and Rice were enraged by the reported comments and Schroeder apologized Friday, September 20, after Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned his German counterpart Joschka Fischer to express U.S. "outrage".

Schroeder announced earlier Monday that Daeubler-Gmelin, who has vehemently denied making the remarks, would not have a place in his new government.

The Chancellor, whose anti-U.S. stance on Iraq helped propel him to victory over conservative Edmund Stoiber in the extremely tight race, also said he was confident that relations with the United States would improve.