BERLIN/MADRID, 12 July 2003 — Germany set strict conditions yesterday before it would consider sending troops to Iraq to take part in a multinational peacekeeping mission, following a US request for it to play a role.

Berlin wants a “request (for troops) from a legitimate Iraqi interim administration and a clear UN mandate” before it even discusses the issue, government spokesman Bela Anda said.

Iraq is currently run by US official Paul Bremer. A 25- to 30-strong political council that will lead Iraq’s interim administration is expected to be in place by mid-July.

The council would then appoint ministers and draw up political guidelines.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Wednesday he had asked Germany and France to join a coalition of countries which would share the spiraling cost and responsibility for the ongoing military occupation in Iraq. A German Defense Ministry spokesman said that sending peace-keepers to Iraq “was not on the agenda”.

But the armed services union said that the German military, the Bundeswehr, could deploy if asked.

A spokesman told AFP that its “resources were not exhausted” in other missions abroad. Germany currently has 9,000 to 12,000 soldiers serving overseas, a number second only to the United States.

Sending 1,500 to 2,000 soldiers to Iraq was “still feasible,” he said.

A government source had said Thursday that Germany was not considering contributing troops to a multinational peacekeeping force in Iraq and had received no official request from Washington to do so. The source noted Germany was giving humanitarian aid and supporting the civilian reconstruction of the war-torn Gulf state.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said in an interview on Thursday that France would only join the force if it had UN backing. Rumsfeld told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington that the reconstruction of Iraq must include a broad array of nations.

“We’ve got 19 countries on the ground, we’ve got commitment from another 19,” he said. “Our goal is to get a large number of international forces from a lot of countries, including” France and Germany.

He also revealed that the bill for Washington’s military commitments in Iraq came to nearly $4 billion per month, more than initially planned.

Spain Approves Sending Troops

Meanwhile, Spain’s Cabinet approved plans yesterday to send 1,300 Spanish soldiers to help keep the peace in Iraq, despite concerns voiced by the opposition and the media that the troops would be put at serious risk.

The first shipment of equipment for Iraq would leave Spain by ship today and the Spanish contingent was expected to be fully operative by the beginning of September, Trillo said.

Defense Minister Federico Trillo told a news conference that the Cabinet had taken the decision to send the Spanish troops for an initial period of six months.

Poland said last month that Spain had agreed to join its 8,000-strong stabilization force which will be in charge of one of four zones in Iraq. The United States and Britain, which invaded Iraq in March to topple former President Saddam Hussein, will control the other zones.