STUTTGART, Germany (Reuters) - U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said on Thursday that solidarity, particularly from NATO allies, was essential in convincing Baghdad to disarm without the need for force.

Wolfowitz said the United States' request on Wednesday for its NATO allies to provide indirect military assistance in case of a war with Iraq was intended to show President Saddam Hussein that Washington and its partners meant business.

``The solidarity that we are receiving from around the world and particularly from NATO allies is part of what gives us any hope at all of convincing the Iraqi regime that it has to make the fundamental changes that are necessary if force is to be avoided,'' Wolfowitz told a news conference in Germany.

Wolfowitz was speaking after taking part in a ceremony to mark the handover of control of the U.S. European Command based near the southern German city of Stuttgart from General Joseph Ralston to General James Jones.

General Jones will take over as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander at a ceremony on Friday in Mons, Belgium.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder angered Washington last year by expressing vocal opposition to any war against Iraq. His anti-war rhetoric was credited with helping him win September's general election in a country with a strong pacifist streak that is still haunted by World War II.

Germany has repeatedly said it will not participate in any attack although it has promised to grant transit rights and use of its airspace to U.S. forces based in the country in the event of a war, as well as offering troops to guard U.S. bases.

THREAT OF FORCE

In a speech, Wolfowitz praised Germany for its hospitality to its forces based in the country and, switching briefly into German, thanked the country for its support in the war against terrorism since the September 11 attacks.

Wolfowitz said differences were inevitable between democratic countries. ``We are please that a lot of those disagreements have narrowed... about Iraq as we've been able to take our case to the world,'' he said.

``We are in complete agreement with all of our allies on the desirability of trying to rid Iraq of its weapons of mass terror by peaceful means if possible.

``It is one of those ironies of diplomacy that sometimes the best way to get a peaceful outcome in a diplomatic crisis is if there is a real threat of force to back it up and that is why we are going to such efforts to convince Saddam Hussein that this really is his only alternative,'' he said.

Wolfowitz said Washington's request to NATO included the deployment of AWACS early warning and surveillance aircraft and providing possible support in post-war operations.

President Bush has massed tens of thousands of troops in the Gulf in preparation for war, accusing Iraq of developing banned weapons.

Bush warned Saddam on Thursday that time was running out for Baghdad to comply with U.N. demands to disarm. But Wolfowitz insisted war was not inevitable.

``The president has not made any decision to use force. In fact, we continue to hope that through the U.N. Security Council resolution 1441 and the policy that we are pursuing we will be able to avoid the use of force,'' he said.