Merkel's fresh stance on Tobin tax threatens rift

German chancellor Angela Merkel has said she cannot guarantee support of the controversial financial transaction tax - known as the Tobin tax - which threatens to create a rift between Germany and France days before a crucial European summit.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy strongly supports the tax, which has divided Europe in recent months, but Merkel has said despite personally supporting the tax, her government was split over the issue, the Telegraph reported. "We do not have an agreement on this within the government, but personally I will campaign for [the tax]," she said at a pre-summit meeting in Berlin. President Nicolas Sarkozy's government is keen to push ahead with a so-called "Tobin tax" even without its European Union partners and hopes to introduce it before an April presidential election. French Finance...