German FM to visit Iraq soon: press

By IRNA,

Berlin : German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier plans to visit Iraq within the next few months in a move geared at finally ending the fallout over German-American differences over the 2003 US war in Iraq, the business daily Handelsblatt cited government circles as saying ahead of its publication on Monday.


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Steinmeier who is to embark on the Iraq trip during the first months of the coming year after the inauguration of US president-elect Barack Obama, aims to signal support for the Near-and Middle East policy of the new American chief executive, German diplomats confirmed to the paper.

The German foreign minister has already instructed his diplomats to ponder about concrete projects despite the dangerous security situation in Iraq.

Steinmeier would be the first German foreign minister to visit the war-stricken country since the German-American dispute over the Iraq war.

As the chief of staff of former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Steinmeier had played an instrumental role in steadfastly opposing the invasion in Iraq, sparking a dramatic deterioration of relations between Berlin and Washington.

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