Russia on Thursday warned that putting the new U.S. resolution on Iraq to a quick vote would be "counterproductive" and France said it was "very important" to hear whether U.N. weapons inspectors believe they can operate under its provisions.
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov reiterated that the latest draft contains provisions which are "impossible to implement" and could "thwart" the work of inspectors. "Russia is also concerned about some provisions in the revised draft which, albeit camouflaged, could be used to justify the use of force against Iraq," the ITAR-Tass news agency quoted him as saying.
"A quick putting of the draft to a vote would be counterproductive," Fedotov warned. France quickly sided with Russia in calling for a toned-down version of the text Thursday.
France wants more clarification of the text, Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said, while noting that progress was nonetheless being made. "We feel the need for certain things to be clarified," the minister told reporters at a European Union summit in Brussels. "There is still work to do in New York, and we need to do that before we can truly agree on a resolution."
Iraq was on the agenda Thursday when Russia's Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov held talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. "We have agreed not to speed up voting ... but to continue seeking to converge our positions," Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Ivanov as saying.
Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri said Naji Sabri, the foreign minister sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan complaining that the United States was trying to block the return of inspectors. "The resolution means they don't want inspectors to go back to Iraq," Al-Douri said. (Albawaba.com)
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