ANGELA MERKEL, the woman who made her name by betraying Helmut Kohl, seemed on course yesterday to become the first woman leader of a big German political party after her chief rival in the Christian Democratic Union dropped out of the race.

 Mrs Merkel, the CDU general secretary, emerged as front runner when Volker Rühe, the former defence minister, heeded hints from party leaders that he would be rejected. East German-born Mrs Merkel appeared to have the strongest grassroots support. Other contenders, including Kurt Biedenkopf, the premier of Saxony, and Berhard Vogel, premier of Thuringia, may still be in the running. A final decision will be made next month.

 Mrs Merkel's selection would signify the determination of CDU members to make a new start after the Kohl era. The party is still reeling from a scandal over illegal funding and secret slush funds that is largely the responsibility of the former chancellor, who dominated the CDU for 25 years.

 German newspapers have been filled with accounts of how Mr Rühe and other CDU leaders met in a beer cellar last week in the northern town of Lübeck to draw up a "stop Merkel" strategy. Mrs Merkel, 47, known for toughness but with a somewhat drab image, became the first senior CDU member to desert Mr Kohl when she turned on him over the funding scandal in a newspaper article last December. Although she has yet to confirm that she will contest the chairmanship, several senior party figures have offered support.

 Friedrich Merz, recently elected head of the CDU parliamentary alliance with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, said at the weekend: "Of course the CDU is ready for a woman at the top. Angela Merkel has proven her abilities as general secretary."

 Edmund Stoiber, the arch-conservative CSU leader, who had earlier seemed cool about of her suitability, said: "We will respect any decision the CDU makes. We will try to work well together with a man or woman at the top. We need each other."