The German government adopted a package of anti-terrorism measures Wednesday, as parliament voted to offer military support to the United States in response to last week's horrifying hijacked airliner attacks in New York and Washington.
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Germany was ready to face the risks of a military response to the anti-US terror attacks, but he rejected "adventures" and called for a comprehensive European Union plan to combat terrorism by tackling its roots.
He also told the administration of President George W. Bush that the United States had a duty to inform and consult with its European allies about its intentions.
The government is to allocate $1.42 billion in its 2002 budget for anti-terrorism measures, Finance Minister Hans Eichel said after a cabinet meeting.
Eichel said the money would help the armed forces increase their rapid-reaction capabilities, as well as reinforcing intelligence services with the particular aim of finding and cutting off sources of money for terrorists.
It would also go to improve internal German security, particularly at airports and in the protection of Germany's borders, as well as the handling of catastrophes, and for better protection of foreign missions in Germany such as embassies and consulates.
Eichel said the extra money would come from raises in tobacco and insurance taxes from January 1 and would not detract from efforts to control public spending, which are aimed at bringing the federal budget into balance by 2006.
Addressing a special session of the lower house of the German parliament on how to respond to the shocking attacks of September 11, Schroeder said Germany and its European partners had rights as well as duties under the Atlantic alliance.
"And this means information and consultation," he said.
In a gesture of solidarity with Germany's transatlantic ally, the Bundestag voted overwhelmingly to make "appropriate military facilities" available to the United States.
The cross-party resolution backed "the German government's readiness to follow up its pledges of unrestricted solidarity with the United States with concrete measures of support".
"This includes political and economic support, as well as making available appropriate military facilities to fight international terrorism," the text said.
Any decision by the German government to provide specific military support for any US-led action outside of the NATO alliance's territory would however needed to be approved by the Bundestag in a further vote.
Before the vote, Schroeder told the Bundestag: "Germany is ready for risks, including military ones, but not for adventures. That is not being demanded of us, thanks to the sensible attitude of the Americans, and will certainly also not be demanded."
Schroeder called for an EU plan to lay the foundations for political and economic stabilization of the Middle East and Central Asia regions in particular and thereby help prevent crises which engender terrorism.
"Our aim must be to integrate all countries if possible in a worldwide system of security and well-being. To that end we want to offer development cooperation incentives to those states which declare their readiness to combat terrorism," he said.
"We must and we want to develop a comprehensive plan for the prevention and management of crises. This plan must be founded upon political, economic, cultural and security cooperation," he said with an eye to the extraordinary EU summit to be held in Brussels Friday.
"Above all we must now make united efforts to achieve a breakthrough for peace in the Middle East," the German chancellor stressed.
Through Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, currently in the United States for consultations with the Bush administration, Germany has spearheaded EU efforts to halt violence between the Palestinians and Israel and bring both sides back to the negotiating table.
Schroeder reiterated that the anti-US terror attacks did not point to a "struggle between cultures" but a "struggle for culture" and universal values.
"We are not at war with a state. And we are also not at war with the Islamic world," he stressed. He said the attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had "nothing to do with religion" but were "the expression of a criminal mentality" -- BERLIN (AFP)
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