Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on Monday that both Germany and France did not see any need at present for a new resolution on Iraq.
"We are with France of the opinion that within the bounds of (UN resolution) 1441 we have enough possibilities to support the progress that the inspectors are making," he said.
"That is why, at the current time - that is the common position - a new resolution is not necessary," Schroeder said. Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac were to hold talks in Berlin Monday night.
France would put forth new proposals to strengthen weapons inspections, Chirac’s spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said in Paris. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said that France wants to step up pressure on Baghdad by proposing a schedule for Iraq to follow through on disarmament demands.
As the two European leaders meet in Berlin a new U.S.-British resolution that would set the stage for war in Iraq by declaring Baghdad in violation of U.N. demands will be introduced, Security Council diplomats said.
Britain's U.N. ambassador, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, plans to introduce the resolution, which a spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair hoped would be voted on by mid-March. (Albawaba.com)
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