France, Germany against war with Iraq

BAGHDAD -- France and Germany said yesterday "everything must be done" to prevent war in Iraq, as Baghdad accused the United States of trying to sabotage the UN disarmament process as a pretext for a conflict.

While the United States tightened the noose around Iraq, ordering two more carrier groups to the Gulf, regional countries prepared for a meeting in Istanbul to co-ordinate efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.

In Paris, President Jacques Chirac said after a meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that the two countries were united in their opposition to war in Iraq.

"Germany and France have the same judgment on the Iraq crisis," Chirac said at a news conference with Schroeder by his side, summing up their stand in two points.

"The first is that any decision for the Security Council belongs to it alone, to be expressed after hearing the report of the inspectors" searching for alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Chirac said.

The second is that, "for us, war is always evidence of failure. Everything must be done to avoid war."

The stance followed an attack by US President George W Bush on Tuesday ahead of expected demands by inspection chiefs for more time to complete their work and amid serious reservations among key countries of the need for war.

"How much time do we need to see clearly that he's not disarming?" Bush snapped, charging Iraqi President Saddam Hussein with using "the tricks of the past" to thwart UN inspectors as he did after the 1991 Gulf War.

Germany already said on Tuesday it refused to add its voice to any UN vote for the use of force against Iraq, while France, Russia and China backed more time for the disarmament inspectors to fulfil their mandate.

"Don't expect Germany to approve a resolution which would give legitimacy to war," Schroeder said, without making it clear if Berlin as a non-permanent member of the Security Council would vote against or abstain.

In another blow to Washington's attempts to forge a coalition in support of military action, Russia aligned itself with fellow permanent Security Council members France and China by opposing immediate conflict.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said a majority of the five permanent council members, all of whom have veto power, now believed it was "indispensable" to pursue diplomatic efforts well beyond next Monday's progress report by the inspectors to the Security Council.

On Monday, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin declared "nothing would justify" such an attack and suggested France could use its veto in the Security Council.

His Chinese counterpart Tang Jiaxuan said the report should be seen as a "new beginning," not the end of the process.

In Baghdad, as arms experts carried out a 54th day of inspections in Iraq, a leading state-run newspaper said Bush was out to stop them certifying that the country is free of banned weapons.

In another positive development for Baghdad, a UN panel monitoring sanctions against al-Qaeda said on Tuesday it had no evidence to back US and British charges of links between Iraq and Osama bin Laden's terror network.

However Bush and other US leaders have made it clear the United States is prepared to circumvent the UN and take military action "with like-minded nations." Britain is also pouring troops and ships into the Gulf region.

Adding muscle to US rhetoric, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed deployment orders for the two additional carrier battle groups at the weekend.

The US Navy will now soon have five aircraft carriers in or bound for the Gulf, giving US commanders the clout to launch a massive air offensive against Iraq, analysts said.

The United States troop build-up in the region is expected to exceed the 150000 mark by mid-February.

Australia announced that a first military contingent would leave for the Gulf today, despite strong political and public opposition to involvement in a US-led war in Iraq. -- Sapa-AFP