|
France urges UN role in Iraq
29/04/2003 08:27 - (SA)
New Delhi - France on Monday said Iraq's reconstruction should be done under the auspices of the United Nations and argued that most nations supported a greater role for the world body in the war-ravaged nation.
"It is necessary that as soon as possible the UN regains its role for...the whole process of the reconstruction of Iraq," French defence minister Michele Alliot-Marie said in New Delhi.
In an apparent dig at the appointment by Washington of a retired US general as interim administrator in Baghdad, the visiting French defence minister said Iraqi people must choose their own political destiny.
"It is also necessary for the Iraqis to take charge of the political reconstruction of Iraq and we think it is the position of most countries of the world and I think this is also the position of India," Alliot-Marie said.
Alliot-Marie and Indian leaders here held wide-ranging talks, with officials describing a "convergence of views" on their shared opposition to the conflict in Iraq.
The French defence minister said a powerful UN would be an effective instrument for global peace.
"If we want to avoid wars it is absolutely neccessary to respect international laws which can be done only through the United Nations," she told reporters.
Alliot-Marie also scoffed at suggestions that France could be "punished" by the United States for its opposition to the US-led war that has just ended in the Gulf.
France last week asked the UN security council to suspend sanctions against Iraq, but said the removal demanded by the United States after the toppling of Saddam Hussein required the world body to certify Iraq free of banned weapons of mass destruction.
The United States rejected the French proposal.
- AFX
|
News
