BERLIN (AP) -- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder picked up support from more European Union partners today for Germany's new nominee to head the International Monetary Fund.
But Schroeder declined to say whether he had won over the country that nixed the first candidate: the United States.
Sidestepping numerous questions, Schroeder did not comment on the extent of U.S. support for Horst Koehler, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. On Wednesday, Schroeder's spokesman said only that President Clinton had shown "positive interest" in Koehler's candidacy when Schroeder contacted him.
The White House said Wednesday it would not comment until the 15-nation EU agrees on a nominee. EU finance ministers are expected to take up the nomination during their regular meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on Monday.
Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok signaled his country's support for Koehler today after meeting Schroeder in Berlin. Kok said he thought Koehler, who has held senior positions in banking and at the German Finance Ministry, is "100 percent qualified" for the IMF post.
At a news conference, Schroeder said British Prime Minister Tony Blair had indicated his support for Koehler as well. "We are on a very good path for an EU consensus on this," he said.
Koehler has won support from France and Portugal, which holds the rotating EU presidency. But it was unclear whether Italy, which is touting Treasury Minister and former Premier Giuliano Amato as a possible contender, would go along.
Germany proposed Koehler after Schroeder's first choice, Deputy Finance Minister Caio Koch-Weser, withdrew in the face of U.S. opposition.
Koch-Weser failed to win a majority in a straw poll by the IMF executive board last week. The United States, which publicly said he lacked the clout for the job, abstained in the vote.:
