German government faces collapse over war row

The German government came to the brink of collapse yesterday when Joschka Fischer, the Foreign Minister, threatened to resign over his Green party's reluctance to support the country's first combat mission since the Second World War.

A stormy meeting of the Greens was adjourned for a second time, with 15 MPs still refusing to endorse their government's decision to dispatch up to 3,900 troops to the war zone. At least two Social Democrat MPs belonging to Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's party are also planning to vote against the deployment next week.

The bill authorising the deployment is almost certain to go through because two of the three opposition parties have pledged their support. But the government may not muster the necessary majority from its own ranks for what is regarded in Germany is the most important decision for a generation. Failure to whip in line its own MPs would damage its prestige at home and Germany's standing abroad.

"The contribution we want to make is also an expression of our readiness to take account of Germany's increased responsibility in the world," Mr Schröder told the Bundestag.

Mr Fischer is reported to have told colleagues that he will step down if he does not get the Greens' wholehearted support. That would probably be the end of the "Red-Green" coalition, which keeps Mr Schröder in power. Leaving the government could spell political suicide for the Greens, who are struggling in opinion polls at about five percent, the threshold for parties to achieve parliamentary representation.

Aware that the majority of Germans oppose the deployment of their troops in Afghan-istan, the Chancellor and his Foreign Minister used yesterday's parliamentary debate to try to sweeten the pill. Mr Schröder insisted: "We are not talking about German participation in air strikes or the mobilisation of combat troops." Reports probably leaked by the government suggest that German troops would be based in Uzbekistan, far from the real action. What is increasingly clear is that this will be a token engagement – "an expression", in Mr Schröder's words, "of our readiness to take account of Germany's increased responsibility in the world".

The Chancellor and his Foreign Minister stressed that Germany had no choice in the matter. Mr Fischer said: "You can discuss a lot – even criticise a lot, for all I care – about the strategy pursued by the United States. But the core question is whether we want to leave the US, our ally that is responding to this attack, standing alone."

Frantic efforts were under way last night to ease the conscience of defectors. The Greens are proposing an amendment that stresses Germany's humanitarian aid for the Afghan people. The new version also calls for diplomatic and political solution for the Middle East. Mr Fischer hopes such a formula will allow a few pacifist MPs to sign up for the full package, bombs and all.

However, those on the left wing of the Greens, as well as some in the Social Democrat party, already feel that Germany went beyond the constitution by participating in international peace-keeping efforts in the Balkans.

The vote to allow German troops to go to Kosovo led to fury in the Green party, resulting in a physical assault on Mr Fischer at one point. Attitudes have hardly softened since then, and some on the left wing intend to make a stand for the sake of what they believe is the spirit of the original Green movement.