(President Bush shakes hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday, Jan. 13, 2006 in Washington. Photo: AP)

Related: Merkel Promises Warm Ties, Plain Talk in Washington

New German Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking to improve her country's relations with U.S. President Bush, buoyed by an emerging international effort aimed at halting Iran's nuclear program.

While Merkel has indicated Germany will not always agree with the United States, her White House meeting Friday came on the heels of a decision by European allies to confront Iran — an approach that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice endorsed.

Eschewing the motorcade that usually transports world leaders to the White House — even when they're staying in the Blair House guest quarters just across the street — Merkel made the short trip to the West Wing on foot.

She and her sizable entourage walked through the White House gates trailed by empty black limousines and a fleet of silver German-made BMWs.

The U.S. and German unity over Iran is as tight as their disagreement over Iraq was wide when Gerhard Schroeder was Germany's chancellor. An election in September put Merkel at the head of a closely divided coalition government.

Schroeder's opposition to the U.S.-led war that deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein so damaged the German's relationship with Bush that the president refused at times to speak to Schroeder on the telephone.

Merkel, by contrast, is more in tune with Bush's conservative politics. Departing for Washington, she said she expected "a first visit that will take place in a friendly atmosphere, one of partnership, and an open one."

Iran is one area where Merkel and Bush are closing ranks. Lining up with Britain and France, Merkel's coalition government concluded Thursday that negotiations with Iran were at a dead end and their effort to stop Iran from making nuclear weapons should go to the U.N. Security Council.

Merkel, making her first comments in Washington at a dinner Thursday night, said Iran had "crossed the red line" by resuming its nuclear activity, and the United States and Europe must continue to face down the Iranians together.

Rice said earlier: "It is very clear that everyone believes a very important threshold has been cleared." She said she was sending senior aides to Europe to plan strategy with the allies.

Besides meeting with Bush, Merkel scheduled a session with members of Congress and planned to attend a ceremony at the newly renovated headquarters of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Despite her calls for a partnership with Washington, Merkel already has demonstrated a strong streak of independence.

She has criticized the U.S. detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Germany rebuffed an appeal by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales not to release a terrorist accused of killing a Navy diver in an airplane hijacking in 1985.

"We do continue to have differences," said Cathleen Fisher, deputy director of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies.

Merkel's stand on Guantanamo "is not insignificant," Fisher said in an interview.

Fisher said Iraq would continue to be a difficult issue. Merkel on her visit might signal that Germany would expand its program to train Iraqi police and might fund youth programs.

"But everyone knows there are not going to be German troops in Iraq, that this is going to be a sensitive issue in the relationship," she said.

James Dobbins, a former assistant secretary of state for European affairs, said "both sides are eager to repair the relationship, and Schroeder's departure provides an opportunity."

Schroeder won re-election as chancellor in 2002, in part by opposing the war in Iraq. Taking offense, Bush refused to telephone his congratulations, and when Schroeder called Bush after waiting a week the president declined to take the call, Dobbins said.

"Clearly, the Bush administration is going to welcome her with open arms," Dimitri Simes, president of the Nixon Center, said of Merkel. "She is not Schroeder, and that is a welcome change."

On Monday Merkel was due to fly to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Iran was likely to be on the agenda, along with Russia's conflict with Ukraine over shipping natural gas to Europe.

(Source: AP)