Germany says regrets any offense caused by Qatar-IS link comments

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government has no evidence that Qatar is financing Islamic State and regrets any offense caused by a minister who suggested there was such a link, a spokesman for the foreign ministry said on Friday. The spokesman said the German government had been in contact with Qatar following the comments by Development Minister Gerd Mueller in a television interview on Wednesday. "If there were misunderstandings, we regret these," Martin Schaefer said at a government news conference. He described Qatar as a partner and "important regional player" but said the two countries had differences of opinion on some issues. A spokeswoman for the development ministry said Mueller's comments were based on press reports rather than concrete evidence known to the government. (Reporting by Noah Barkin and Michelle Martin)