POLITICS-EUROPE: France Spearheads Move to Slow March to War on Iraq

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN, Feb 10 2003 (IPS) - Transatlantic relations faced an unprecedented row Monday – with France spearheading efforts to slow the march to a U.S.-led war against Iraq.

Transatlantic relations faced an unprecedented row Monday – with France spearheading efforts to slow the march to a U.S.-led war against Iraq.

In a spectacular move, France, Russia and Germany called for strengthened United Nations weapons inspections in Iraq, aimed at peacefully disarming that country.

In another significant move Monday, France joined Belgium and Germany in refusing to support any NATO protection for Turkey in the event of an attack on Iraq.

The three countries said a decision ahead of the Security Council meeting next Friday, would constitute a “logic for war” and a failure for diplomacy.

U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Washington would go ahead with plans to boost Turkey’s defenses in advance of a possible war with Iraq despite objections from the three NATO allies.

Together with the United States, France and Russia are veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Should France and Russia decide to exercise their veto – for the first time since the end of the Cold War more than a decade ago – any attempt to push through a Security Council resolution legitimising war against Iraq would fail.

Germany is a rotating member and chairs the Security Council this month. But it has no veto power.

French President Jacques Chirac presented the joint declaration on weapons inspectors Monday in Paris, after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He said the three countries favour increasing the number of weapons inspectors in Iraq as well as reinforcing their technical capabilities.

France and Russia, along with Germany, are among the strongest proponents of a peaceful solution to the Iraq crisis, a position that runs counter to U.S. President George W. Bush’s warning that “time is running out” for Baghdad to disarm.

Chirac said that Iraq’s weapons capability must be neutralised as quickly as possible but that waging war to achieve the objective should be considered only as a last resort. “Nothing today justifies a war,” Chirac said. “This region really does not need another war.”

Putin, who arrived in Paris Monday for a three-day visit, said the crisis in Iraq must be resolved diplomatically. He held talks over the weekend with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Berlin.

Putin said Russia believes the crisis must be resolved diplomatically. “We are against the war,” he said. “Both of our countries insist on the need to solve the problem and the crisis diplomatically, and we consider that … careless action could lead to unknown results.”

The Russian President said he believes that inspectors are making progress with Iraq.

“Iraq is offering more information and shown a greater wish and willingness to cooperate,” he said. Russia stood ready to contribute “equipment and aviation” to any efforts to enhance inspections.

Ahead of Chirac presenting the joint declaration, German government officials said Sunday they would join France in presenting an initiative to the UN Security Council next Friday to disarm Iraq without the use of force.

Elements of the Franco-German plan were leaked at a security conference in Munich over the weekend.

German Defence Minister Peter Struck said the initiative builds on a French proposal to double or triple the number of weapons inspectors unveiled earlier this month at the Security Council.

At a UN Security Council meeting last week, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin suggested strengthening the inspection system by “doubling” or “tripling” the number of inspectors in Iraq, using Mirage-IV aircraft to increase observation capacity and putting in place a “specialized corps” to guard sites already checked.

Struck denied reports Monday in the German media that the proposal also calls for deploying about one thousand UN peacekeepers – blue helmets – in Iraq.

Chirac said that the call of the three countries for a substantial strengthening of the “human and technical capacity” of inspections was within the limits of resolution 1441.

The resolution, adopted unanimously last November, warns Iraq of “serious consequences” if it fails to cooperate with inspectors and provide them with an accurate accounting of its weapons programmes.

Referring to the trans-Atlantic tensions over how to deal with Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein, Chirac said the debate over Iraq should take place “in the spirit of friendship and respect that characterizes our relations with the United States and other countries.”

Adding yet another significant dimension to the row erupted on Monday, the government in Baghdad approved the use of U-2 surveillance planes to help UN inspectors look for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Iraq sent a letter to UN inspectors Monday approving the use of the U.S.-made planes.

Baghdad also pledged to pass legislation next week outlawing the use of weapons of mass destruction.

Both were key unresolved issues after two days of talks that ended Sunday between Iraqi officials and Hans Blix, head of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Both men said after the talks Sunday they see signs Iraq is having “a change of heart” on the need to cooperate.

ElBaradei said he was “cautiously optimistic” over Iraq’s commitment to comply fully with Security Council resolution 1441.

Blix and ElBaradei are set to brief the Security Council 14 February on the outcome of the Baghdad talks and the status of ongoing inspections.

Speaking in Baghdad Sunday, ElBaradei said the talks had three main objectives – “full inspection, full Iraqi cooperation, movement on the remaining disarmament issues” – and that “good progress” was made on all these issues.

Blix said he would rather see the inspection process continue than some other solution – an apparent reference to possible U.S.-led military action.

However, during a speech Monday, U.S. President George W. Bush repeated that Iraq will be forcefully disarmed if it chooses not to disarm on its own.

Bush said the Iraqi leader plans to use civilians as human shields in the event of war. Bush said everything possible will be done to protect civilian lives.