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neral secretary Christian Lindner, quit unexpectedly on Wednesday.Roesler and the most prominent rebel, backbench lawmaker Frank Schaeffler, sought to put on a show of unity Friday."We will now ... look ahead, united and together," Roesler said. "We will now put an end to the internal argument -- we have found our position."Schaeffler said he wanted to "contribute to the divisions in the party being closed," though he added that "the fact the decision was so close in the end" showed it was right to consult members.The FDP joined Merkel's conservatives in government in 2009, winning nearly 15 percent of the vote after an election campaign focused heavily on income tax cuts -- a pledge that has been ground down to almost nothing.The party has attracted much of the blame for frequent infighting in the coalition and has been punished by voters in state elections this year. Nationally, it regularly polls below the 5 percent needed to win seats in parliament.The mai

 

own," Noda said. "Now that we have achieved stability in the reactors, a major concern for the nation has been resolved."Radiation released from the plant has been significantly reduced, and additional safety measures installed at the plant ensure stability even in the event of another major disaster, he said.Noda said he hopes conditions will improve quickly so that the people who have been displaced by the crisis can return home "even a day sooner.""There are many issues that remain," Noda said. "Our battle is not over."The government's official endorsement of the claim by Tokyo Electric Power Co. that the reactors have reached cold shutdown status is a necessary step toward revising evacuation zones around the plant and shifting the focus from simply stabilizing the facility to actually starting the arduous process of shutting it down.But Noda acknowledged the assessment has some important caveats.The government said Fukushima Dai-ichi has reached cold shutdo