PARIS, October 16 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - French President Jacques Chirac reiterated on Wednesday, October 16, his country’s firm opposition to U.S. attempts to win U.N. backing for the use of military force against Iraq and denied any link between Baghdad and Al-Qaeda.

France is determined to see the council adopt a two-step approach to the Iraqi crisis as opposed to Washington's pursuit of a single resolution threatening automatic use of military force if arms inspections are blocked, said Agence-France-Presses (AFP).

In an interview with the Future satellite channel and Radio Orient before leaving for a Mideast tour, Chirac stressed that "France is completely hostile" to giving the United States automatic authorization to use force if Washington deemed that Iraq was not fully permitting the inspections.

Hours ahead of a crucial meeting of the deeply divided U.N. Security Council on Iraq, Chirac underlined that, while there was "a potential danger in the probable or possible possession of weapons of mass destruction by the Iraqi regime... the aim is to disarm Iraq, not change its regime."

War may be needed to achieve that goal, "but it's always the last resort," Chirac said.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Vice President Ezzat Ibrahim said Wednesday, that "we are proud of France's friendship for the Arabs" and added that he hoped Paris would strengthen its position "in the event of (U.S.) aggression against Iraq (or) in order to prevent this aggression ... or to back us if need be."

"The French people's stand is sympathetic to Iraq," he said, urging the French government to translate this into policy and back Iraq.

In an interview with Lebanon's L'Orient Le Jour newspaper on Wednesday, Chirac also added that France had no proof substantiating U.S. President George W. Bush's claims of a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda.

Other French officials have also indicated that efforts by the United States and its staunch ally Britain to push through a U.S.-drafted resolution have made no headway.

Russia has sided with France, calling the U.S. draft "unacceptable", setting the scene for a acrimonious session of the U.N. Security Council when it meets later Wednesday in New York.

The four countries all have veto power over council decisions.

The fifth veto-wielding state, China, has given a cool reception to the U.S. draft but offered no firm position.

Although a source of frustration, both Washington and Paris had up to now made big efforts to keep the disaccord as behind-the-scenes as possible, avoiding public statements that might antagonize the other and keeping the lines of communication open.

Chirac and Bush spoke by telephone last week and Paris on Wednesday dispatched French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie on a two-day visit to Washington for talks with her U.S. counterpart, Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.

But, in comments made before her U.S. trip, and before last weekend's unclaimed blast in Bali that killed more than 180 people, Alliot-Marie said that the world should not confuse the two dangers: terrorism and Iraq.

"We mustn't mix everything up. Iraq is a separate issue. Iraq worries us because of its weapons of mass destruction, but the weapons of mass destruction are not necessarily going to be used by terrorists," the minister said.

A demonstration by at least 6,000 people also took place in Paris last Saturday October 12, to protest against the U.S. war plans and to urge France to use its veto against the U.S. draft in the Security Council.

Demonstrators marched through the capital chanting "No to war against Iraq, no blood for oil" and brandishing slogans reading "Hands off Iraq - stop Bush" while smaller similar rallies took place in other French cities.

But France, sensitive to accusations that it is trying to protect commercial relations with oil-rich Iraq, has stressed that it wants Baghdad to agree to beefed-up inspections aimed at identifying and destroying nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.

France's first resolution would set a strict deadline for the inspections.