German Greens face war dilemma

Claudia Roth has to win the Green pacifists' support

Some 800 delegates of Germany's Green Party - the junior party in the governing coalition - are debating Chancellor Schroeder's decision to offer military support to the United States.

If the delegates vote against the measure in Saturday's annual party conference in Rostock, it would almost certainly lead to the collapse of the governing coalition.

If the majority of the party decided that the policies of the parliamentary party and the three Green ministers were wrong, I see no basis for the continuation of the coalition

Fritz Kuhn
Green co-leader

The Green executive has recommended that the delegates accept the Bundestag decision to offer almost 4,000 troops for the US-led war against terror.

But the Green Party leadership could face a rebellion from grassroots members opposed to the decision.

The Green Party's co-leader, Claudia Roth, told the BBC she was unsure how the delegates would vote.

Mr Schroeder received a very narrow Bundestag majority for his decision to provide German troops for the war against Osama Bin Laden.

Only by turning it into a vote of confidence in his leadership did he succeed in persuading enough Green party rebels to back his position.

The crisis began in a row over deployment of troops

But the party remains deeply divided over the issue, and some delegates have called for the party to pull out of the coalition altogether.

Its most senior minister, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, is expected to make a plea for greater realism and call upon members to back him and Mr Schroeder as Germany takes on more military responsibilities in the wake of the 11 September attacks on the US.

'Lively debate'

But the executive's motion - intended to bridge the gap between the members and the leadership - falls short of the "unlimited solidarity" with the US promised by the chancellor.

It calls instead for a "critical solidarity" and rejects some aspects of the American military campaign altogether, such as the use of cluster bombs.

The party secretary, Reinhard Buetikofer, told the BBC they wanted a "lively and open debate".

Getting ready for a close vote

He said he was "positive that the coalition would be stabilised by the outcome of the conference".

Mr Fischer is in the unusual position of facing calls for a halt to the attacks on the remnants of the Taleban regime in Afghanistan on the eve of hosting a United Nations conference in Bonn on how to rebuild a democratic government in the country.

Ironically, this move was made possible by the military campaign itself.

Much will depend on the performance of the Green party co-leader Claudia Roth.

Her task is to integrate the pacifist left of the party whilst ensuring the Greens remain fit for government.

It is a perilous balancing act for the leader of a party unsettled by war and intent on soul-searching on public.

Earlier in the military campaign, Ms Roth irritated Mr Schroeder when she called for a pause in the bombing campaign on Taleban positions to assess the humanitarian crisis within Afghanistan.

Hopes

The co-leader Fritz Kuhn has already increased the pressure on likely rebels in advance of the conference.

"If the majority of the party decided that the policies of the parliamentary party and the three Green ministers were wrong, I see no basis for the continuation of the coalition," he said.

Green leaders are hoping the victory of the Northern Alliance may now take some heat out of the debate, not least because it should allow proper humanitarian deliveries to resume.