Merkel calls for strong deal on climate

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By Desmond Butler ASSOCIATED PRESS

UPDATED:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in a speech Tuesday to the U.S. Congress, exhorting the world to "overcome the walls of the 21st Century" and reach a deal to combat global warming.

Frequently interrupted by robust applause, Merkel reiterated her country's commitment to fostering security in Afghanistan and also said that a nuclear bomb in the hands of Iran "is not acceptable."

In the first address by a German chancellor to Congress since Konrad Adenauer in 1957, Merkel put special emphasis on the need for a global agreement on climate change -- one she said she hoped could be forged at an international conference next month in Copenhagen.

"We have no time to lose," she declared. Merkel said she recognized that no deal could be successful without the support of China and India -- but that if a deal were struck, she said she was sure those two fast-growing economies could be persuaded to sign on.

Merkel met at the White House with President Barack Obama before her speech to the joint session of Congress; Obama shares her support for a strong international agreement on global warming, although considerable skepticism lingers in Congress.

And, whereas at other times in her speech she received full standing ovations, when she mentioned the climate change deal only part of her audience rose to applaud.

Merkel vividly recounted the life she led as a child in a subjugated East Germany, the daughter of a Protestant minister and a teacher. She said she was thrilled to speak directly to American political leaders.

Speaking through a translator, Merkel said she "personally shall never, ever forget" Germany's friendship with the United States. She told lawmakers that "in my wildest dreams, I would not have thought this possible." Merkel said it was "beyond my imagination even to travel to the United States, much less stand before you one day."

While noting that next Monday is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Merkel called for Europe and the United States to join forces to help "overcome the walls of the 21st century."

"We should be able to overcome this wall separating the present from the future," she said of those seeking to delay or block a climate change agreement. "Global challenges can only be met by international cooperation," she said.

She cited as clear proof of global warming icebergs that are melting in the Arctic, African people forced to flee their homelands because of drought and the rise in global sea levels.

On Iran's nuclear program, Merkel said that allowing Iran to have nuclear weapons, especially with a leader that denies the Holocaust, is "nonnegotiable, not now or never."

The Obama administration has called on Germany to agree to stiffer economic sanctions against Iran if Tehran does not permit international restrictions on its nuclear activities.

She said Germany agreed that it was important "to meet this threat head on ... if necessary, through tough economic sanctions."

On the subject of Afghanistan, Merkel said Germany will "travel this road together, every step of the way" with the United States. While Washington has indicated it would like to see Germany and other partners in Afghanistan increase their forces, the war is highly unpopular in Germany.