January 18, 2003	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 14, 1423

LUDWIGSHAFEN (Germany), Jan 17: It is inconceivable that Germany would vote in favour of military action against Iraq at the UN Security Council, German Defence Minister Peter Struck said in an interview published on Friday.

A yes vote is “fundamentally no longer conceivable”, Struck told the regional daily Rheinpfalz.

Germany, which became a non-permanent member of the Security Council on Jan 1 and takes over from France as its president on February 1, has so far studiously refused to say how it would vote on any possible resolution authorising a strike against Baghdad.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Tuesday spoke out publicly for the first time in favour of a second UN resolution being adopted before any military action can be launched against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

In November the Security Council adopted resolution 1441 which sent UN inspectors back to Iraq to verify whether Baghdad has given up its programmes to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

ANKARA: Turkey’s president said on Friday it would be difficult to win approval from the country’s parliament for a US-led invasion of Iraq without a second United Nations resolution.

Turkey’s presidential spokesman Tacan Ildem told reporters in Ankara it would be difficult to win parliamentary approval for an Iraq war without a second UN resolution on military conflict.

AMPHIBIOUS SHIPS: Two US Navy amphibious assault ships and five other vessels carrying about 10,000 Marines and sailors departed San Diego on Friday bound for the Gulf region.

The amphibious assault ships, USS Boxer and USS BonhommeRichard, were joined by the amphibious transport docks, USS Cleveland and USS Dubuque, and the dock landing ships, USS Anchorage, USS Comstock—Reuters