Deutsche Welle
English Service News
13. 01. 2006, 17:00 UTC
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Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
"The Americans Want to Make Clear Germany Isn't Innocent"
German intelligence agency expert Erich Schmidt-Eenboom offers his
take on the allegations that German secret agents were involved in
assessing targets during the US military invasion in Iraq.
To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the
internet address below:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1854817,00.html
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The Week in Germany: The best from German culture, business and
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Bush, Merkel hail open discussion
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President George W. Bush have
held talks at the White House on a wide range of issues. President
Bush said he was looking forward to a good partnership between the
two countries. Merkel, on her first official visit to the US since
becoming chancellor, described her discussion with President Bush as
very open and honest. She said it was important for the two allies
to be able to openly discuss not only the things they agree on, but
also issues that they differ on. On the matter of Iran's nuclear
ambitions, Merkel said the international community would not let
itself be intimidated by the government there.
Iran to end co-operation if sent to UN
Iran has threatened to end voluntary co-operation with the United
Nations over its nuclear programme, including snap checks of its
facilities, if it is referred to the Security Council. This comes a
day after the foreign ministers of Germany, Britain and France said
talks with Iran on obtaining guarantees that it would not seek
nuclear weapons had reached a dead end. They also called for an
emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to get
Iran referred to the Security Council. Britain though, has said this
doesn't mean that economic sanctions against Iran are inevitable.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said UN sanctions were just one option
to try to pressure Tehran into compliance.
German official blasts Turkey over bird flu
A German official has criticised Turkey for not reacting swiftly and
adequately enough to the bird flu outbreak in the country. Gerd
Mueller, a deputy agriculture minister, was quoted as saying that he
felt Turkey was struggling to get the disease under control. Mueller
said that German authorities had offered their help but that Ankara
had so far not responded. Three children have died in Turkey from
the deadly H5N1 strain, in total 18 people have been infected.
Earlier the EU pledged 80 million euros in aid to help countries
deal with bird flu. Scientists fear the virus could mutate into a
form able to spread easily among humans, leading to a pandemic.
Questions raised over role of BND in Iraq
The German parliament, the Bundestag, appears to be about to set up
a committee to investigate allegations that the BND intelligence
service helped US forces in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The
opposition Greens, the Free Democrats and the Left Party have all
said they would vote to launch an investigation. This follows media
reports suggesting that BND agents in Iraq had helped US forces by
identifying targets for bombing raids. The BND has confirmed that it
had agents in Iraq at the time, but has denied supplying such
information to US forces. Instead, it has said it passed along
information on buildings that should have been avoided in US air
strikes.
US says helicopter shot down near Mosul
Two pilots have been killed in the crash of a US military helicopter
near the northern Iraq city of Mosul. The US military confirmed the
deaths in a statement issued to reporters in Baghdad. Earlier, a
senior US military commander said the chopper appeared to have been
shot down by insurgents.
Sharon's condition worrying: reports
Israeli media say doctors treating Ariel Sharon are concerned that
the Israeli prime minister is responding very slowly to efforts to
wake him from an artificial coma following a massive stroke. Doctors
at Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital have gradually been reducing the
anaesthesia but are said to be worried that Sharon does not seem to
be reacting. His condition is still listed as critical but stable.
Missile strike targets Pakistan border area
As many as 18 people have been killed in a missile strike on a
village stronghold of pro-Taliban Islamists in Pakistan. Pakistani
officials said the strike was launched from neighbouring Afghanistan
but authorities there denied it. The incident in the Bajaur tribal
region came just days after Pakistan lodged a protest with US-led
forces in Afghanistan, saying cross-border firing in the nearby
Waziristan area last weekend killed eight people.
World Cup gala kicked into touch
A gala event that had been planned to officially kick off this
year's World Cup here in Germany has been cancelled. FIFA, soccer's
world governing body, issued a statement saying that it had been
scrapped over concerns that it could damage the playing surface of
Berlin's Olympic Stadium. But a German newspaper report to be
published on Saturday says the event was cancelled due to rising
costs and sluggish ticket sales.
Bayern beat Persepolis in Tehran
In sports: There's one soccer score of note this afternoon. German
Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich have beaten Iranian club side
Persepolis in a friendly played in Tehran by a score of 2-1.
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