December 19, 2002	Thursday	Shawwal 14, 1423

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UNITED NATIONS, Dec 18: Germany has been tipped to head the United Nations Security Council’s sanctions committee, a prospect which does not sit well with Washington, diplomats said here.

Ever since German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder made anti-Iraq war his election plank, US-German ties have been strained.

Some council diplomats said Washington had pushed for Chile or Spain, which most recently sided with the US in wanting to ban all research on cloning of human embryos. It feared the Schroeder government, which was re-elected on an anti-war policy, might challenge Washington on Iraq.

Although an official announcement will not be made until the new year when Pakistan, Chile, Spain, Angola and Germany join the 15-member body, the jockeying for committees’ chairmanships is well under way.

Norway, which ends its two-year term on the council this month, currently heads the Iraq sanctions panel, which can make decisions on oil-pricing and goods going to Iraq.

Usually the high-profile post is given to a western European nation and Germany, which chaired the committee in 1995-1996, was considered the most able to do the job again.

Some diplomats here say that the Bush administration faced opposition from other key council members, such as France and Russia, in trying to block Germany. US diplomats then told some members they did not oppose Germany for the committee but that Berlin had not wanted a hassle with the US.