Schroeder reiterates Berlin will not send troops to Iraq

LISBON, Oct 19 (AFP) - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Tuesday reiterated that his government has ruled out sending troops to Iraq, after talks in Lisbon with Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes.
"The position of the German government is that we will not send troops, and this we will not change," Schroeder told a joint news conference with Santana Lopes.
Earlier this month German Defence Minister Peter Struck indicated in an interview with the Financial Times that Germany, which fiercely opposed the US-led invasion, might deploy troops to Iraq if conditions there change.
His comments came just before the third and final election debate between US President George W. Bush and his challenger Senator John Kerry on October 13.
But German officials, including Schroeder, have since said that Berlin would not send troops to Iraq under any circumstances.
In his 2002 re-election campaign Schroeder damaged relations with Washington after he derided US plans to launch a war against Iraq as an adventure which would set the Middle East ablaze.