German leader Angela Merkel hailed on Thursday the improving dialogue between her country and the United States after arriving in Washington for her first meeting as chancellor with President George W. Bush.

Saying she was impressed by her "incredible reception," Merkel alluded to chilly relations between the two countries since the US invasion of Iraq when she expressed happiness that important issues "can again be discussed in an open way."

"That must be our goal," Merkel told a crowd of business, civic and political leaders at a German embassy dinner, including Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell.

"The question is whether a controversial debate is possible between friends."

"The fight against terrorism is more difficult than the Cold War," she said.

On Friday, Merkel, 51, was expected to receive a warm welcome from Bush, whose relations with her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder had soured over disagreement on the Iraq War.

Topping their agenda will be the dispute with Iran over its nuclear ambitions as well as Russia's recent gas quarrel with Ukraine.

Merkel addressed the Iran dispute in her remarks on Thursday, saying that "Iran has crossed a red line" in its move to resume uranium enrichment research.

"It is a good sign that Germany, France, the United States and Great Britain are on the same page on this issue," she said.

"We are working on showing Iran that the international community will not let itself be provoked," she said.

Analysts said Merkel and Bush were unlikely to make any major policy announcements after their meeting, which is being trumpeted as a sign of rapprochement between the two countries.

Ties between Germany and the United States sunk to a low point after Schroeder and his centre-left coalition refused to back the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Schroeder and Bush were barely on speaking terms by the time the German Chancellor left office in November.

Merkel, of the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) party, has stressed that mending the relationship was one of her government's priorities.

Bush and Merkel have only met once before, when she was still head of the German opposition.

'Honest and open'

However, Merkel's criticisms over US treatment of suspected militants may cloud her attempt to restore trust in German-American relations.

With many Germans angry over what they see as Washington's use of legal technicalities to allow abuse of suspected terrorist detainees, Merkel has also signalled she will not be content with mere soothing talk of reconciliation.

Before her first US trip since becoming chancellor in November, Merkel said the US prison for suspected militants at Guantanamo Bay should not exist indefinitely.

Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler said Merkel would not hold back from criticizing Guantanamo on her trip to Washington.

The Bush administration, which is sensitive to criticism of its war on terrorism, established the prison at a US Navy base in Cuba to handle hundreds of suspects without giving them prisoner-of-war status or ready access to the criminal justice system.

Merkel did not directly address differences over detainee policies, but she called for an "honest and open dialogue."

"A lively discussion can be a sign of friendship," she said at a German Embassy dinner event to mark the start of her trip.

Allegations the United States has secretly run prisons in Europe and transferred detainees across the continent incommunicado have fuelled anti-American sentiment in Germany.

Political analysts say Merkel needs to show her electorate she will not ignore that in her dealings with the Bush administration,

Merkel said on Thursday NATO needed to be more active in fighting terrorism. That message was likely to please Bush, who has pushed for the trans-Atlantic military alliance to expand its operations to help fight al-Qaida.

But Germany's Ambassador to the United States Wolfgang Ischinger acknowledged US-German differences over how to combat militants.

"The United States decided after 9/11 it was at war, but European countries believe we must continue to fight terrorism with peacetime legal systems," the ambassador said.

Such differences will prevent the European powerhouse from gaining America's full trust, wrote John Hulsman and Nile Gardiner of The Heritage Foundation think tank, which is closely allied with the Bush administration.

"Those expecting a renaissance in US-German relations are likely to be disappointed. While the relationship between the White House and the chancellery will be more cordial, underlying policy tensions will remain," they said.

"The United States will continue to face a German public that is overwhelmingly hostile towards US foreign policy and which is likely to remain so," they added.

Source: China Daily