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| | Challenger Gains an Edge In German Vote Standoff |
 | | DRESDEN, Germany, Oct. 2 -- Conservative challenger Angela Merkel's party gained a seat Sunday in the last remaining district in parliamentary balloting, boosting her chances of becoming Germany's first female chancellor and giving the party extra momentum in coalition talks to form a new government. |
 | | With all 260 electoral districts accounted for, Andreas Laemmel from Merkel's party, the Christian Democratic Union, won the contest for a seat in Dresden with 37 percent of the vote. |
 | | Roland Koch, the conservative governor of Hesse state, said the vote confirmed the Christian Democrats and their sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union, as the strongest bloc in Parliament, which should choose the next chancellor. |
| www.washingtonpost.com /wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/02/AR2005100201141_pf.html (321 words) |
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