A delegation from the interim Governing Council (GC) on 18 December called for the UN to be given a greater role in Iraq. In a statement made after meeting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Berlin, GC members said: 'The representatives of the Iraqi GC assured the chancellor that it is their goal to build a democratic, free and federalist Iraq in which religions and human rights are respected.' The statement said that this should be achieved through the context of the UN. Schroeder said that Iraq's future rested on the participation of the international community, and that greater UN involvement in Iraq would 'create more legitimacy at home and abroad for the democratic transition process'. Schroeder added that his government would be willing to support Iraq's 'economic transformation process to a market economy', and reaffirmed his pledge for Germany to offer debt relief to Iraq.