The French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin has said France will oppose a fresh United Nations resolution on Iraq which could act as a trigger for war.
In an interview with the BBC today, he was careful not to use the word veto which France, as a permanent member on the UN Security Council, could wield. "Do we need a second resolution? No. Are we going to oppose a second resolution? Yes," de Villepin said.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Friday he was confident of winning support from other members of the UN Security Council for a new resolution saying Iraq has not met disarmament obligations and must face the consequences.
France, Russia and Germany are demanding more time for diplomacy and weapons inspections to work."We believe the UN should not be put in a position to just put a rubber stamp on a decision that has already been made," Villepin said. "The timetable of international diplomacy may be not the timetable of war. But you don't make war on a timetable."