Russia, France, EU warn against unilateral U.S. action

Washington - Russia, France and the European Union urged caution again today after President Bush moved the United States to the edge of war with Iraq by issuing tough new warnings in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night.

"As we have said before, we do not see grounds for the use of military force," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said.

"The potential for political and diplomatic regulation has not been exhausted and we think that international inspectors should be given the opportunity to continue their work."

Bush declared Tuesday in his annual speech that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has missed his "final chance" for peace by showing contempt for U.N. weapons inspections.

The president stopped short of committing to war. But he provided a long list of allegations of the Iraqi president's efforts to thwart the inspections and left no doubt that he is ready to part ways with allies who want to give inspectors more time.

"The course of this nation does not depend on the decisions of others," the president said. "Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people."

Bush said Secretary of State Colin Powell will present U.S. evidence on Iraq's weapons violations to the U.N. Security Council next week.

Yakovenko said Moscow is ready to listen to any fresh U.S. evidence.

"Of course, we are ready to listen carefully to and to analyze the additional information which the U.S. secretary of state plans to present to the U.N. Security Council," he said.

However, he reiterated that while Moscow agrees on the need to resist terrorism, it doesn't see eye-to-eye with Washington on the source of threats.

In Paris, France's top terrorism investigator said today that Islamic extremists are winning recruits in Europe because of tensions over Iraq.

Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, one of Europe's most prominent anti-terrorism fighters, also said the risk of new attacks "will be one of the costs" of war against Iraq.

"It cannot be excluded that in the next few months there will be a chemical attack, with hundreds of dead," said Bruguiere, who has broad powers of investigation and arrest and is well-known for tracking down the infamous Venezuelan-born killer Carlos the Jackal.

In Brussels today, European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana hailed the U.S. offer to share intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction with the United Nations but said the world body's role remained key.

"The center of gravity should be the United Nations," he said.

The 15-nation European Union has been divided on its view of Bush's hard line toward Iraq and many EU states have been alarmed by the prospect of a unilateral U.S. decision to attack. -- Washington Post

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