BERLIN, Nov 23 Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sent signals of a new German willingness to support the United States in Iraq on Sunday with calls for debt relief and close cooperation in what he reckons will be a long war on terror.

Fresh from a trip to New York, Schroeder said Germany wanted reconstruction and democracy in Iraq to succeed and pledged to help more, pointedly recalling US aid to West Germany after World War Two paved the way for its “Economic Miracle”.

Even though Germany’s loud opposition to the Iraq war and warnings it would cause turmoil in the region strained relations with Washington, Schroeder rejected any notion he took pleasure in Iraq’s troubles or harboured thoughts of “I-told-you-so”.

“That would be completely wrong to start having an attitude like that,” Schroeder said in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine to be published on Monday. “I have no interest in throwing anything in anyone’s face.

“It’s in Germany’s and Europe’s interest that the reconstruction and democratic process in Iraq succeeds,” said Schroeder, who recently met US President George W. Bush to put the Iraq dispute behind them. “We’re ready to help with that.”

But he said Germany’s military was already stretched to its limits with some 9,000 troops in the Balkans and Afghanistan, and Germany could not contribute any forces to Iraq.

“We haven’t been asked to send soldiers and we don’t have any intention of making an offer,” he said, adding Germany was nevertheless involved in training Iraqi police and security forces.

“We can talk about doing even more for the civilian efforts to rebuild Iraq, but there won’t be a military deployment.”

Four suicide bombings that killed more than 50 people in Istanbul this month showed Europe was facing a huge terror challenge, he said. Germany was on guard for terror attacks.

“This new threat of privatized violence must be decisively countered by the community of nations,” Schroeder said. “I fear it will be a long battle. It has to be answered with the use of state force, but not exclusively with force.”

Pointing to debt rescheduling and debt relief as vital for Iraq, Schroeder called on the Paris Club of creditor governments to speed efforts on Iraq’s foreign debt and said Germany was willing to consider forgiving some of its Iraq debt.

“It’s my view that it is up to the Paris Club — it has to work on the question of a long-term rescheduling,” Schroeder said. “Germany will certainly be helpful on that issue. We haven’t forgotten what helped Germany after World War Two.

“Without the generous rescheduling of Germany’s foreign debts, thanks to efforts led by the Americans, there would not have been reconstruction or the Economic Miracle,” he said.

Although Germany in the past said it would not consider forgiving Iraq’s debt to Berlin of some 4.4 billion euros ($5.2 billion), Schroeder said he was now open to discussing that.—Reuters