Germany, France, Russia to vote for UN resolution on Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, October 17, 2003

Germany, France, Russia to vote for UN resolution on Iraq

Germany, France and Russia will vote in favor of the United States-proposed United Nations resolution on Iraq, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on Thursday in Brussels.

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The United States received unexpected support for its new United Nations (UN) resolution aimed at attracting troops and money to stabilize war-battered Iraq and put it on the road to independence.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said yesterday that Germany, France and Russia - Europe's leading opponents to the US-led war in Iraq - will vote in favour of the UN Iraq resolution.

The decision was made during a 45-minute conference call with Schroeder, French President Jacques Chirac and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Schroeder said.

The vote had been delayed so the three leaders could discuss whether to back the resolution following Washington's refusal to support their key demand that it include a timetable to transfer power to Iraqis.

"We agreed that the resolution is really an important step in the right direction," he said.

Putin told reporters at an Islamic summit he is attending in Malaysia that the three leaders had "co-ordinated our common position and we believe that today our ambassadors in New York will disclose this decision."

US officials had said they expected Russia to vote "yes" yesterday, and probably Germany as well, and they were not ruling out approval by France, the most outspoken critic of Washington's Iraq policies.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell launched a final diplomatic offensive on Wednesday to win support for the resolution, talking by telephone to the presidents of Pakistan and Angola, the foreign ministers of China, Russia and Britain and twice to Dominique de Villepin of France.

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