“The inspectors confirm that there is progress. That is why we are opposed to a new resolution,” de Villepin

MOSCOW, February 24 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - French President Jacques Chirac and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin confirmed in a telephone call Monday, February 24, that they both saw eye to eye on the Iraq crisis.

"In their discussion of the situation concerning Iraq, they confirmed the similar stance of Russia and France, based on the priority of political and diplomatic means for solving the Iraqi problem," said a Kremlin statement carried by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The two leaders agreed that they would continue to coordinate their actions through the U.N. Security Council where they both wield veto power. 

France was expected later Monday to submit proposals at the UNSC to toughen the weapon inspections regime in Iraq and deflect pressure from the United States for a new resolution that could authorize war.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said the measures would be in the form of a memorandum with the aim of defining - above and beyond the reinforcement of inspections - concrete criteria to facilitate and set out reference points for disarmament.   

The United States is expected to submit a new draft resolution to the UNSC, perhaps as early as Tuesday, February 25, that would declare Iraq in breach of commitments made to the United Nations and thus authorize "serious consequences" spelled out in a resolution 1441 in November.

France Opposed to New Resolution

“Weapons inspections were making headway,” Annan

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said in remarks published Monday that his country remains opposed to any new U.N. resolution which could authorize military force against Iraq and believes weapons inspections are proving effective.

A day before the United States is expected to present a draft motion condemning Iraq at the U.N. Security Council, de Villepin said it was unlikely to pass because a majority of the 15-member council agree with France.

"We are now firmly in the phase of inspections. They are producing results and can successfully achieve the disarmament of Iraq," the foreign minister told Le Figaro newspaper.

But de Villepin said "a new phase - in which other possibilities including the use of force can be examined - will only open up if the inspections can make no further progress.” 

"But today we are in the opposite situation. The inspectors confirm that there is progress. That is why in this context we are opposed... to a new resolution," AFP quoted him as saying.

Asked if France would wield its veto to thwart a new resolution, de Villepin said the question was irrelevant "because there are many of us who are convinced that resolution 1441 offers the necessary framework for action by the international community.

"We firmly choose the way of inspections, and a large majority of nations are with us, notably European, African and non-aligned nations," he said.

U.N. Urges Diplomacy, U.S. Lobbies for War

Meanwhile, in Kuala Lumpur, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Monday that war in Iraq is not inevitable, urging a diplomatic solution as the United States lobbied China to support on a new resolution on Iraq.

“Weapons inspections were making headway and must be allowed to resolve the crisis,” Annan told the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Kuala Lumpur, in a speech presented by his special representative Lakhdar Brahimi.

Urging Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to disarm for the sake of world order, the head of the world body also warned Washington that any action not sanctioned by the world body would lack legitimacy.

"For the sake of its own people, and for the sake of world security and world order, I urge the Iraqi leadership to choose full transparency and cooperation with the inspectors to help avoid conflict," Annan told leaders of the 115-nation NAM, including Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan.

However, Annan added to the pressure on the Iraqi leader.

"Iraq must disarm. It must cooperate fully and proactively with the inspectors," he said.

Opposition to war was echoed by South African President Thabo Mbeki, who also warned against attacking Iraq without U.N. approval, while Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad accused the West of trying to invade the world.

China Insists on Political Solution

"The choice of what happens next rests in Baghdad,” Hoon

Although U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell tried to woe China by saying that "relations with China have really moved to a new dimension,” China Vice President Hu Jintao, however, insisted Monday on a political solution through the United Nations to the Iraq crisis, rebuffing lobbying efforts by Powell.  

The top U.S. foreign affairs official came to China seeking support for a new U.N. resolution to compel Iraq to disarm and backing for the U.S. approach on North Korea but appeared to find few assurances from Beijing. 

Hu reiterated China's consistent line that the Iraqi disarmament issue should be resolved through political means and within the framework of the United Nations.

Hu at the same time urged Iraq to "fully, strictly and earnestly implement the resolutions adopted by the U.N. Security Council, and honor its words of possessing no weapons of mass destruction."

‘What Happens Next Rests in Baghdad’

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon, for his part, said Monday that although there is still time to resolve the Iraq crisis peacefully, however, what lies ahead is largely based on the Iraqi regime.

“There is still time for the situation to be resolved peacefully, through the United Nations, and we all fervently hope that will be the case. But what is now abundantly clear is that the choice of what happens next rests in Baghdad," Agence France-Presse quoted Hoon as telling a news conference in Kuwait.

Hoon also voiced concern at reports that Iraq had put missiles on the border with Kuwait.

"I'm not confirming them but I'm certainly concerned about those reports," AFP quoted Hoon as telling a press conference in Kuwait.

The U.K. defense secretary also stressed that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had never “acted reasonably” without the threat of force, and that such a threat was the only way to make sure he complied with U.N. Security Council resolutions requiring disarmament. 

"It would be a victory for Saddam indeed if he were able to walk away from this situation maintaining his stockpile of weapons, with his grip on power in Iraq enhanced and having undermined the U.N. itself.

"We also judge that it is right that we should continue pursuing the process the United Nations set out in that resolution, which gives him still at this late stage the opportunity of complying with the resolution," the British minister added.

Hoon was to meet British troops as well as Kuwaiti officials, AFP quoted the defense ministry as saying, but giving no information on the content of the talks.    

In addition to visiting British troops in Kuwait, as part of a massive U.S.-led military buildup against Iraq, Hoon is scheduled to travel to Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) from Monday through Wednesday.