Schaeuble asks German lawmakers to ok Greek deal this week

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Tuesday he had asked German lawmakers to give their approval this week to the release of delayed Greek aid tranches after euro zone finance ministers reached a deal overnight on Greek debt sustainability.

"We need parliamentary approval in a bunch of member states including Germany and we'll send a bill to the Bundestag (lower house) for approval," he told reporters. "I asked for this to happen this week if possible but I can't say exactly what the schedule of the Bundestag will be."

Lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition and the opposition Social Democrats and Greens said they would back it, despite suspicions that a debt write-down had just been delayed until after German elections in September 2013.

(Reporting by Stephen Brown, Gareth Jones and Madeline Chambers)