Chirac, Putin Have Reservations Over U.N. Iraq Text

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, November 07, 2002

Chirac, Putin Have Reservations Over U.N. Iraq Text

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France and Russia, opposed to any blank check for military action against Baghdad, voiced reservations over a draft resolution which Washington presented to the United Nations on Wednesday on the disarming of Iraq.

French President Jacques Chirac spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone and both agreed there were "ambiguities" on the issue of military action in the text, which Washington wants put to a vote on Friday, Chirac's spokeswoman said.

Chirac and Putin exchanged views on the document and felt progress had been made on many fronts, spokeswoman Catherine Colonna told reporters.

"Certain ambiguities need to be cleared up, however," she said, describing what was said by the two men, whose countries have veto power in the 15-member U.N. Security Council along with China, Britain and the United States.

Chirac in particular believed "there would be advantages to a resolution which was adopted unanimously," Colonna said. "That would require that any risk of automatic (recourse to force) would therefore have to be excluded," she said.

Chirac and Putin believed that one of the main improvements in the new U.S. text was that it confirmed the key role of the United Nations in dealing with Iraq, she added.

Other officials at Chirac's Elysee Palace said there were still worries that the latest text could be interpreted in various ways as far as military action is concerned.

"We're working in a spirit of unanimity in the Security Council, and to secure that there should be no doubt on the question of recourse to force," one official said.

Paris has doggedly argued for a two-step approach, where U.N. inspectors would be sent into Iraq on a disarming mission and military action only considered at a later stage if problems arose, and that such a move would need fresh U.N. consultations.

Source: Agencies

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