"I warn against repetition" of the US-led war on Iraq, said Schroeder in an interview with German TV RTL.

Schroeder said he saw no reason for him to back off from the anti-war attitude the German government has taken toward the Iraqi issue.

He called for a quickest transition of power in Iraq to a democratically elected government, while describing the debate in the United States on partition of the reconstruction contracts in Iraq as "macabre".

He said efforts must now be made to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq.

However, Schroeder did not rule out the possibility of Germany's participation in a UN-led peace-keeping mission in Iraq, saying that his country would never shun offering help.

He stressed that the summit of German, Russian and French leaders on Friday in St. Petersburg was not aimed against anyone and that the European defense initiative pursued by Germany would not exclude Britain.

The German leader said that the relations between Berlin and Washington should normalize, "but we do not press ourselves."

(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2003)