Rivals Closer To Clinch U.N. Deal On Iraq

No French Veto

Monday, September 22, 2003

Islam Online

& News Agencies

"We can either abstain or vote yes. To vote yes, we need a clear long-range political vision and a key role for the UN. A clear long-range political vision is one that sets out first, a precise deadline for a transfer of sovereignty, and second, a timetable for transferring responsibility. What I propose resembles to some degree what we're doing in Afghanistan. We believe that there will be no concrete solution unless sovereignty is transferred to Iraq as quickly as possible."

BERLIN -- IOL
France said Monday, September 22, it would not veto a U.S.-backed Security Council resolution on the future of Iraq, as Germany said it hoped to build bridges with the United States on the war-ravaged Arab country.

As German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder headed for his first direct talks with U.S. President George W. Bush in more than a year, government sources insisted Wednesday's talks, their first since May 2002, were designed to outline a "political future" and "common vision" on Iraq, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Germany wants "an inclusive strategy, not exclusive," the sources added to AFP, on condition of anonymity. They were "all partners" working on the same dossier.

Nevertheless, Schroeder will also meet Presidents Jacques Chirac of France and Vladimir Putin of Russia in New York immediately after seeing Bush.

The three, who all opposed the U.S.-led Iraq invasion, want to confer on their stance, the sources said.

But they strongly denied suggestions that the three were seeking some form of European "counter-axis" to Washington, which wants a UN resolution to share the military and financial burden of stabilizing and reconstructing Iraq.

The sources said Schroeder wanted to bring his conception of post-war Iraq closer to the U.S. viewpoint despite their differences over the war.

Berlin "is not pessimistic" of achieving progress, they added.

Schroeder was due to set off for New York early Monday evening after talks with Polish leaders.

* No French Veto

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Dan