
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 13, 1994                   TAG: 9408050014
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: BERLIN                                 LENGTH: Short

GERMAN MILITARY TO SERVE ABROAD

In a welcome decision for the world's overburdened peacekeeping forces, Germany's highest court Tuesday loosened the leash on the nation's military, ruling that German soldiers may serve and fight abroad.

The decision reverses a constitutional interpretation that had grown out of the guilt and pain of World War II and which had kept German soldiers within the nation's borders except for minor humanitarian aid missions recently to Cambodia and Somalia.

Chancellor Helmut Kohl hailed the decision, saying, ``I'm very happy about that ruling. ... We are members of the United Nations. And if we claim the rights that membership entails, we will have to live up to our responsibilities.''

President Clinton, whose visit to this once and future capital of Germany coincided with the decision, also said he was pleased. In recent days he repeatedly has urged the Germans to assume greater responsibility in world affairs, even if that means a military role.

by CNB