German Magazine Stands By Disputed Olmert

A German magazine said on Sunday it stood by an interview with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

A German magazine said on Sunday it stood by an interview with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in which it quoted him as saying Iran's nuclear programme could be set back by firing 1,000 missiles in a 10-day attack.

Olmert's office on Saturday denied he had made the comments to weekly news magazine Focus. Focus said in a statement on its web site on Sunday the interview had been carried out in mid-April by Amir Taheri, who it said was a Middle East expert and book author.

The magazine posted the full text of the interview on its web site on Sunday and it also appeared in the print version.

Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, had said the prime minister spoke to Taheri but she said he did not make the comments that were attributed to him.

Eisin said the meeting was not an interview and was conducted for background purposes, on the understanding it would not be used. "The prime minister did not say these things," Eisin said.

Focus quoted Taheri as saying that Olmert had promised him the interview in Berlin more than a year ago.

"At no point during the latest meeting with the head of the Israeli government was there any indication that what was said was only for background," the magazine said. A Focus spokeswoman confirmed they stood by the interview.

Taheri asked Olmert whether military action would be an option if Iran continued to defy the United Nations and Focus quoted Olmert as responding: "Nobody is ruling it out."

"It is impossible perhaps to destroy the entire nuclear programme but it would be possible to damage it in such a way that it would be set back years," Focus quoted Olmert as saying.

"It would take 10 days and would involve the firing of 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles," he said, according to Focus.

Iran denies it seeks to develop nuclear weapons and says its atomic programme is aimed only at power generation.

Focus also quoted Olmert as saying UN sanctions should be given a chance to work before military action was launched.

"We must give the (U.N.) process time to take effect," it quoted him as saying. "We have no intention of attacking Iran at the moment."