German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today called for a United Nations (UN) role in rebuilding war-torn Iraq and backed an independent Palestinian state to restore peace in the Middle East.

Schroeder, the first German chancellor to visit Malaysia since independence, held private talks with Mahathir as he opened a week-long Southeast Asian tour to bolster trade and economic ties.

"Both leaders reaffirm their committment to the UN and the need for multipolarity in the world system," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters after delegation meetings at the government administrative capital of Putrajaya.