Germany's Greens rule out further coalition talks with Merkel

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Greens decided after almost six hours of talks with Angela Merkel's conservatives that they did not have enough common ground to consider a coalition government, leaving the chancellor to focus on talks with the Social Democrats (SPD). Hermann Groehe, General Secretary of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) told reporters early on Wednesday, "exploratory talks will not be continued and coalition talks will not be entered into." Merkel's conservatives emerged as the dominant force in last month's election but need a partner. They have met both the SPD and the Greens twice, and are set to meet the SPD for further talks. (Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Hans Edzard Buseman; writing by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Annika Breidthardt)