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'Hitler row' German minister quits
BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- A German minister -- whose remarks allegedly comparing U.S. President George W. Bush with Hitler drove a wedge into U.S.-German relations on the eve of parliamentary elections -- will resign, says Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Schroeder, in his first news conference since his ruling coalition narrowly defeated conservative rival Edmund Stoiber, said on Monday that the rift caused by remarks attributed to Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, along with his own opposition to a U.S.-Iraq war, would not cause permanent damage. (Election roundup) "An objective difference of opinion can well exist between friends, but it must not be made a personal matter," he said. "And certainly not with regard to close friends and allies." The comments attributed to Daeubler-Gmelin likened President Bush's stance on Iraq to Hitler's use of international policy to hide domestic woes. The minister denied making the remarks, and refused calls last week for her resignation. Schroeder backed his minister, but said on Monday Daeubler-Gmelin had submitted a letter telling him she didn't "want to be a burden on a future government" and would no longer be available for her post.
"She wrote a very respectable letter that shows her political and personal integrity and there are no debates to be had beyond that," the chancellor said. Schroeder sent a conciliatory letter to the U.S. president, but Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said U.S.-German relations had been "poisoned." Defence Minister Peter Struck said he would meet with U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during a NATO ministers' conference in Warsaw this week to try to put the dispute behind the two nations. "Our relations now, they are a little bit difficult, but they will be repaired," Struck told CNN after polls closed on Sunday. But Rumsfeld said on Monday he had no meeting "scheduled with the German counterpart." "I have no comment on the German election's outcome, but I would have to say that the way it was conducted was notably unhelpful, and, as the White House indicated, has had the effect of poisoning the relationship," he said. Schroeder's outspoken opposition to a U.S. attack on Iraq struck a chord with German voters, turning what once looked like certain defeat into a narrow victory. But as election returns came in, government ministers were already at work trying to smooth over the rift between Berlin and Washington. And Schroeder himself tried to downplay the rough edges that surfaced over the weekend. The "anxieties" that appeared during the election campaign, he said during his news conference, "are without foundation." Another post-poll casualty was Juergen Moellemann, deputy leader of the liberal Free Democrats, who resigned on Monday over a row with a prominent German Jewish leader. Party leader Guido Westerwelle said the row had caused the FDP "massive damage." Moellemann said he was stepping down in the best interest of his party, though he remains a member of parliament. He said: "I am resigning from my post as deputy head to spare the FDP an ordeal and further internal preoccupation."
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