Chirac and Schroeder are still against war

NEW YORK, February 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – France released on Monday, February 24, a document calling to boost the inspections process in Iraq and slamming the use of force as not yet justified, a step widely seen as setting the stage for a momentous confrontation between the two rival camps that could decide the future of Iraq, the Middle East and even the United Nations.

The document, supported by Russia, China and Germany, was submitted to the UN Security Council after Britain presented a draft resolution deciding that "Iraq has failed to take the final opportunity afforded to it in Resolution 1441" - the resolution passed unanimously in November which restarted weapons inspections.

The French and Germans demanded in their document, referred to as a memorandum, at least four months of weapons inspections in Iraq and that "military option should only be a last resort" as the conditions for using force against Iraq are so far not fulfilled".

The text acknowledged that suspicions remain about Iraq, but said "no evidence has been given that Iraq still possesses weapons of mass destruction or capabilities in this field."

It set out what it called "a realistic and rigorous timeline" for continuing the inspections.

But it conceded that inspections "cannot continue indefinitely" and stressed that "Iraq must disarm."

Russia has backed their stance and said it would use "all the means it has" to resolve the crisis peacefully.

And China indicated it too supported the French proposal, which also calls for  more intrusive inspections and a "rigorous" schedule of deadlines, but said it would study the draft resolution carefully, the BBC News Online reported.

Russia, China and France are, like the U.S and Britain, veto-wielding Security Council members, and their support is necessary for any new resolution on Iraq that would open the door for the use of force against Baghdad.

The vote on the new resolution is expected in the next two weeks.

The U.S. draft, supported by staunch allies Britain and Spain, urged the UN to recognize the threat of "Iraq's non-compliance with council resolutions and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles which poses to international peace and security".

It also noted that "Iraq has submitted a declaration pursuant to its resolution 1441 containing false statements and omissions and has failed to comply with, and cooperate fully in the implementation of that resolution"

Deepened Rift

Rice dismissed the French approach as "the worst of both worlds."

The proposal and counterproposal deepened the rift and pushed for diplomatic drive of the two sides to rally support for their divergent approaches, besides the usual scenario for lashing fingers.

French Ambassador in the U.N Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said Paris had not ruled out the use of force, but was saying that the time had not yet been reached, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Asked how France would react if Iraq failed to comply with Blix's order to destroy its banned al-Samoud 2 missiles, de la Sabliere replied: "There can be no discussion on that."

The destruction of the missiles, due to start Saturday, was mandatory, he insisted.

Saddam, in an interview with CBS television, indicated he had no plans to destroy the missiles, denying that Al Samoud 2 missiles violated U.N. range restrictions.

Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix has put a Saturday deadline for Iraq to begin destroying the missiles.

"Iraq is allowed to prepare proper missiles, and we are committed to that," Saddam was quoted as saying in the interview.

The American ambassador to the United Nations, John D. Negroponte, told reporters after the session that he viewed the approach by those three nations with "deep skepticism," and senior Bush administration officials predicted that the outcome would soon be either Mr. Hussein's exile or military action to disarm Iraq and topple his government, the New York Times reported.

Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser, dismissed the French approach as "the worst of both worlds."

She said it was tantamount to an admission that Hussein was not complying with the resolution requiring him to disarm, while helping the Iraqi leader "alter and play with" the resolution's requirements, added the paper.

Unless Hussein left the country, "it is hard to imagine any other way — if he has failed to voluntarily disarm — to disarm him except forcibly." She added.

"It's time to deal with this problem," she concluded.

The British envoy, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, had told the Council, "There is still time and the Security Council still has control over the process."

But Sir Jeremy told reporters after the meeting that a "sword of Damocles" was hanging over Mr. Hussein and that "there is not much time left." He added.

Before the discussion took place in the Council chambers, the weapons inspector, Blix, met with his expert advisory board and gave them a 170-page document reviewing the clusters of disarmament issues yet to be resolved. That group is to resume discussions on Tuesday.

But attention on Tuesday will focus on Ankara, where parliament is to vote on a cabinet-backed motion to allow US troops to be based in Turkey, opening up a potential northern front in any invasion on Iraq.

The White House welcomed the Turkish government's reluctant call on its parliament to approve the deployment of US soldiers in Turkey and the dispatch of Turkish forces to northern Iraq.

"We continue to make good progress in the talks with Turkey. We're pleased with the actions taken by the Turkish government to date," said spokesman Ari Fleischer.

At the State Department, deputy spokesman Philip Reeker added, "we very much respect Turkey's democratic process, and that's what we're seeing here ... a democratic process, AFP reported.

In Turkey, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener, emerging from a seven-hour cabinet meeting, told reporters that a motion on the deployment would be sent to parliament later Monday, even though Turkish-U.S. talks on conditions for the deal were still ongoing.

The decision was taken even though "an important number of ministers found unsatisfactory the point" reached in the talks with the United States over financial aid and military cooperation in the event of a possible war against Iraq, Sener told reporters.

 Faced with a staunchly anti-war public opinion, the sole Muslim member of NATO has been holding out for days against strong pressure from Washington to allow its territory be used as a launching pad for a US invasion of Iraq from the north.  

In return for its support, Turkey is seeking several billion dollars in aid to compensate for damages a war might inflict on its already hard-hit economy, along with a written pledge that the Kurds in northern Iraq will not be allowed to break away from Baghdad.