Berlin - Germany has cleared the way to approve state guarantees for the takeover of ailing car manufacturer Opel by Canadian-Austrian car parts manufacturer Magna, government sources said on Saturday.

Sources said the government committee in charge of state guarantees had decided on Thursday that the Opel deal was ready for approval, confirming a report by Spiegel news magazine.

Nobody had challenged the basics of Magna's takeover proposals at a meeting between Chancellor Angela Merkel's office, the finance and economics ministries, as well as the four German states with Opel factories, Spiegel reported.

The group was now drawing up an approval document, to be signed by the new finance and economics ministers, once a new government is sworn in following last month's general election.

Under the deal, Berlin is to provide 4.5 billion euros (6.5 billion dollars) in state-backed guarantees to help Magna restructure the GM European subsidiary.

The Berlin-backed Magna deal has angered other European countries where Opel has operations, including Spain, Belgium, Poland and Britain.

They have claimed that the German government guarantees would mean that Opel factories in their nations would bear the brunt of the job cuts under Magna's restructuring plans.

On Friday, Spanish Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian said he had called on Magna to provide long-term guarantees that Opel's plan at Figureruelas near Saragossa would remain open.

Otherwise, Sebastian said, Spain would not provide any financial support for the Opel rescue plan.

Britain - where Opel runs factories under the Vauxhaull brand - has since signalled that it is now willing to approve the deal.

"On Friday evening a good, amicable agreement was reached between Magna and the British trade unions," a British source in the negotiations told German Press Agency dpa. (dpa)