United Nations: Reacting positively to the report by UN chief weapons inspector Hans
Blix praising Iraq's disarmament co-operation, Russia and France on March 7
maintained their opposition to a new UN resolution sanctioning military attack on
Baghdad, and called for more weapons inspections for a peaceful resolution of the
crisis.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told the UN Security Council that how the Iraq
crisis is settled could decide the world's future "peace and security".
"We do not need more Security Council resolutions, we have had enough of these,"
said Ivanov. "We need more support for the UN weapons inspectors."
Expressing strong opposition to a new resolution as proposed by the US and Britain,
France said Iraq now poses less threat than it did in 1991.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said the Council should meet at the
level of heads of state and government to vote on a US-sponsored draft resolution to
disarm Iraq by force.
He said the decision between war and peace "entails a vision of the world and a
conception of the role of UN".
"If this choice is to be made in conscience, in this womb of international
Democracy, heads of state and government, should meet here, in New York, at the
Security Council, before their people and the world," Villepin said.
Echoing similar views, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said Beijing saw no
need for another resolution, "particularly one that authorises force".
PTI
