France Reaffirms Opposition to Unilateral Action on Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, August 30, 2002

France Reaffirms Opposition to Unilateral Action on Iraq

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French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday warned against Washington's plans to unilaterally decide military actions on Iraq, reaffirming that all decisions on the Iraqi issue must be decided by the United Nations Security Council.

"It comes out the temptation to legitimize the unilateral and preventive usage of force. This evolution is worrying," said Chirac at France's annual conference of ambassadors.

"If Bagdad continues to refuse the unconditioned return of weapons inspectors, the Security Council and only the Security Council is to decide what measures to take," said Chirac.

The unilateral use of force goes against France's vision of collective security, which is a vision based on the cooperation ofstates and the respect to the rights of the Security Council, he said.

When opening the ambassadors' conference on Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin also reaffirmed France's opposition to unilateral decision on military action against Iraq.

"An over-reliance on force did not in itself provide any solutions," said de Villepin, urging for attention on the worsening humanitarian situation in Iraq.

However, a shift of stance was noticed as de Villepin openly declared the attitude of Saddam Hussein as unacceptable while avoiding to explicitly attribute the unilateralism to Washington.

In contrast, Hubert Vedrine, socialist predecessor of de Villepin, had repeatedly commented Washington's policy as "unilateral, simplistic and utilitarian."

De Villepin criticized the Iraqi government, saying that it "holds its people on hostage, defies international rules set by the Security Council and threatens security," while Vedrine said Iraq no longer represented threats to its neighbors.

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