France warns U.S. it will not back early war on Iraq

Paris - In unusually blunt terms aimed at pre-empting the United States, France said today that it would not support any Security Council resolution for military action against Iraq in the coming weeks.

France's foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, accused Washington of "impatience" in the confrontation with Baghdad over illegal weapons and added, "We believe that nothing today justifies envisaging military action."

In a highly public rebuff, Mr. de Villepin would not rule out the possibility that France would use its veto power if the United States presses the Council later this month to authorize war against Iraq for failing to disarm.

But diplomats said that Mr. de Villepin had told Secretary of State Colin L. Powell in closed meetings that France would be more inclined to support war if United Nations weapons inspectors confirmed after another two months or so that Iraq was not willing to disarm peacefully.

Stark differences with Washington over the pace and effectiveness of the inspections were also expressed today by China, another veto-bearing Council nation, and Germany. China's foreign minister, Tang Jiaxuan, called a report that the inspectors will present to the Council on Monday a "new beginning," rather than a final accounting.

The German foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, said that "Iraq has complied fully with all relevant resolutions" and that the inspectors should have "all the time which is needed."

Mr. Powell seemed to be caught off guard by the resistance, especially the French broadside. It came during a meeting of the foreign ministers of 13 of the 15 Security Council countries, who were convened by France — as the Council president this month — to discuss ways to defeat global terrorism.

Departing from his prepared remarks Mr. Powell said the Council would have to "make a judgment" on Iraq's cooperation after the chief United Nations weapons inspectors give a report here next week on their work in Iraq.

He summoned the Council not to "shrink from the responsibilities" or be "shocked into impotence," although he stopped short of confirming that Washington would seek a resolution to authorize war.

In closed meetings on Sunday and today, Mr. de Villepin tried to convince Mr. Powell that Washington does not yet have a majority on the Council in favor of war, and that it should let the arms inspections run for two more months at least, diplomats said.

As pressure mounted here for more time for the inspections, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said in Washington that the United States' timetable for Iraq to disarm is very short, and "we're nearing the end of the long road."

In Baghdad, Iraqi authorities said they would comply with suggestions from Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, the chief weapons inspectors, and encourage Iraqi scientists to agree to private interviews with the arms teams.

Britain announced today that it is preparing 30,000 troops for action in Iraq, in the most significant step yet in its military buildup.

Mr. de Villepin made his blunt comments at a news conference just moments after Mr. Powell addressed the Council, and continued to argue his case at a luncheon France held for the ministers.

"There is no reason to go to war while we can still improve the path of cooperation," Mr. de Villepin said in an interview late today. "We don't believe the world is ready."

Rather than waiting for the report on Monday, diplomats say, France decided to take a strong stand a week ahead of time in an effort to prevent the Bush administration from forcing the issue of Iraqi compliance in the Council at the end of this month, diplomats said.

Paris believes that President Saddam Hussein has been kept in check by the weapons inspectors who have fanned out across his country, and that he cannot continue work on building prohibited weapons while they are there.

Mr. de Villepin warned that if Washington did not win support in the Council and opted to go to war with only a handful of allies, it would be "a victory for the law of the strongest."

In his statement before the open meeting, Mr. Powell urged the Council to get ready to stand firm, repeating four times that "we must not shrink from our duties and responsibilities."

He provided no new details about how the Bush administration planned to proceed after the weapons inspectors' report.

"We are greatly concerned that a military strike against the regime in Baghdad would involve considerable and unpredictable risks for the global fight against terrorism," Mr. Fischer said. "These are fundamental reasons for our rejection of military action."

While other European countries were demanding more time, Britain, which has also been pleading in recent weeks to slow the rush toward war, changed its tone today.

"Let us also be clear that time is running out for Saddam Hussein," Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, said today, echoing words that President Bush has spoken in recent days.

After Mr. Powell left New York, a senior administration official said that the secretary had been unruffled by the tough words, particularly from the French, but he indicated that Mr. Powell felt that the United States had its work cut out.

"This is not particularly new," the official said, acknowledging that there was a basic disagreement between the United States and France right now on whether the inspections in Iraq were achieving a positive result.

"There are those who think that somehow this is working," the official said, making clear that this was not Washington's view.

The official said that despite Mr. de Villepin's strong words, the White House was hopeful that there would eventually be an agreement on what to do about Iraq, although it would require the kind of tough negotiating that led to the passage last November of Resolution 1441, which set the terms for new inspections and demanded Iraqi disarmament.

"This is not the end of the debate," he said. "This is the start of the debate. When we get the report of the inspectors, then we will start going through that process with others."

The purpose of the open Security Council meeting today was to adopt a declaration to strengthen and accelerate measures that nations across the globe have taken to tighten financial, travel and police controls to fight terrorists.

But the antiterrorism agenda was almost eclipsed by the discussions behind closed doors about Iraq.

Mr. Powell did not make any new attempt to link Washington's battle against terrorism and its confrontation with President Hussein.

Only Mr. Straw made the connection, saying that stopping weapons proliferation by "rogue states" like Iraq was as urgent as fighting terrorism. -- New York Times

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