BERLIN, Sept 18: Military action against Iraq is superfluous now that it has agreed to the return of UN inspectors, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has said, calling for the regime to be toppled from within.

In an interview appearing in Thursday’s General Anzeiger daily, three days before the country votes in federal elections, he said the world community had to look very carefully at the conditions in which the weapons inspectors were being allowed back in.

“We must seize the opportunity. Falling back on the old positions will not help now,” he said, according to an advance copy of the interview.

Asked if a military strike on Iraq was now “superfluous,” he agreed. “That is correct.

“Our goal was never the overthrow of the regime by military force.” But he went on: “Nobody likes the regime. We have to work toward the aim that it will be overcome from within.”

Berlin has been the only major US ally in Europe to rule out taking part in a strike on Iraq even if there were a UN mandate for it.

The firm anti-war stance is popular in Germany. It is credited with giving Schroeder a vital boost in the polls, which show his Social Democrats and the opposition conservatives running neck and neck.

Schroeder said it was “not feasible” to restore democracy to Iraq through military means, as “in all probability it would not have legitimation from the United Nations.”

The chancellor’s opposition has angered Washington to the extent that Bush and the chancellor have not even spoken by telephone on the issue.

Schroeder still had no plans to speak to Bush and saw “no necessity” to do so, government spokesman Uwe-Karsten Heye said Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer however has kept open the lines of communication.

He said they had “a very friendly discussion,” thus partially confirming a report in the mass-market daily Bild.

According to the paper, which cited diplomatic sources, Fischer sought to ease Bush’s concerns about Berlin’s anti-war stance by referring to Sunday’s election.

“In spite of the latest development, war remains the big danger.

“Waging war against Iraq would carry incalculable risks for the entire Middle East.”

Interviewed on NTV television, he seemed to hedge Germany’s opposition to military action, saying he would want to see the text of any UN resolution on the issue.—AFP