German reaction: Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has greeted the end of the fall of Baghdad, remarking that each day of war less the better, writes Derek Scally in Berlin
The German leader, who opposed the war, said the Iraqi people should decide their own future and the United Nations should play a central role in returning stability to the country.
"There are gratifying signs that the war is coming to an end ... something we heartily welcome," said Mr Schröder in Berlin yesterday.
He said Germany would have a role to play in the peaceful reconstruction of Iraq, but behind the scenes in Berlin there was growing confusion yesterday over just what that role should be.
Mr Peter Struck, the defence minister, has distanced himself from a US-led reconstruction effort. "If the country is not rebuilt by the United Nations, then I see no primary responsibility for Germany," he said at the weekend.
A spokesman for the defence ministry appeared to backtrack yesterday, saying Mr Struck had not entirely ruled out a role for Germany in a reconstruction effort lead by the US.
"No primary responsibility means that Germany would not be in the front line but certainly in the second or third," said the spokesman.
The issue has divided Mr Schröder's Social Democratic Party (SPD). Mr Struck's position has found favour among senior party members, such as the SPD general secretary, Mr Olaf Scholz.
"For us it is clear. Germany can only participate under a UN umbrella," Mr Scholz said.
But others in the party have warned against another early decision like the one that lead Mr Schröder to rule out any participation in an Iraq war last September, weeks before the general election.
After sitting out the war on Iraq, Mr Schröder is anxious to repeat the success of the Petersberg conference near Bonn in 2001 that provided a road-map for rebuilding Afghanistan.
But having kept itself out of Washington's "coalition of the willing", it is unlikely Berlin will be let in at this stage.