GERMAN CHANCELLOR GERHARD SCHROEDER IS HUGGED BY HIS ADVISOR IN BERLIN, 2002-09-23 (photo)

Gerhard Schroeder, German Chancellor and leader of the Social Democratic party SPD (L) is hugged by his advisor Manfred Stolpe prior to a SPD party board meeting in Berlin September 23, 2002. According to the provisional final result, Schroeder's SPD fell 2.4 points to 38.5 percent as voters punished it for failing to bring down unemployment, which remains stuck above four million, in its first term. It was level with Edmund Stoiber's conservatives, who gained 3.4 points to 38.5 percent. But a surge by the Greens, who gained 1.9 points to 8.6 percent, rescued the Red-Green coalition's majority, albeit a reduced one. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay REUTERS WR/FMS