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| Axis of Evil |
| Germany denies report on coup against Saddam |
| 2003-01-03 |
| The United States wants to remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussain from power without the bloodshed or the billions of dollars of a new Gulf war, an Iranian newspaper said yesterday. But the German Foreign Ministry denied the daily Entekhab's report that Germany's foreign minister told his Iranian counterpart by telephone that Washington sought a bloodless coup with the help of Russian President Vladimir Putin. "...it's been heard that Joschka Fischer, German Foreign Minister, has told Kamal Kharrazi in a phone conversation that America is set to overthrow Saddam Hussain without a war, bloodshed and heavy military expenditure," Entekhab said. You read it here first... The German Foreign Ministry confirmed the two ministers spoke by telephone, but denied Fischer had said the United States was trying to topple the Iraqi leader without a war. "This content of the conversation is completely made up," a foreign ministry spokeswoman said in Berlin. It could be made up out of whole cloth, too. But can Sammy afford to take a chance that it is? Or even that there's only some truth to it? The newspaper, believed to be close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Washington had harmonised its policy with Russia. It underlined recent remarks by former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov about the possibility that Putin might visit Baghdad in order to persuade Saddam to relinquish power and depart for Moscow. Normally, heads of state don't really like it when the President of Russia drops by to tell them they should consider another line of work. It doesn't look good on the old resume... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #3 I don't think he was clearing the plans. I think the Germans were a conduit - a tool in an intricate diplogame. |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-01-03 20:10:12 |
| #2 Right, like GWB's gonna clear his plans with the Germans...who next? The French? Canada? They can watch the attack on DVD or History channel |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-01-03 17:31:11 |
| #1 Weren't the Germans recently complaining that the US isn't bringing them in on the big policy discussions? |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-01-03 11:14:43 |