Moufassa, check this out. It's time for complete withdrawal from the UN... Its a dangerous world and its time to stop playing games with backstabbing pseudo-friends.
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DJ WRAP: Chirac, Schroeder, Annan To Discuss Iraq In Russia
04/08/2003
Dow Jones News Services
(Copyright © 2003 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
MOSCOW (AP)--The leaders of France, Russia and Germany -the chief
European opponents of the U.S.-led war in Iraq -will be in St. Petersburg this
week for meetings that are likely to focus on the continuing fighting and postwar
reconstruction. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is also scheduled to visit.
French President Jacques Chirac will be in St. Petersburg Friday and Saturday, the
Kremlin said Tuesday. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was already slated
to meet with Putin in the former imperial capital on those days, and Annan is to visit
St. Petersburg on Saturday as part of a European trip centered on Iraq's
reconstruction.
In Paris, Chirac said Putin had invited him and Schroeder "to discuss all aspects of
the situation" in Iraq. The visit will also be "an occasion to discuss postwar Iraq," he
said. Neither Russian nor German officials specified whether the leaders would
hold a three-way meeting.
France, Germany and Russia sought to avert the war, pushing for weapons
inspections to be extended for several months as an alternative to a proposed U.N.
Security Council resolution that would have authorized military action. France and
Russia both threatened to block the resolution, and it never came to a vote.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said the central
subject of foreign policy dialogue with Germany at the moment is "discussion of
prospects for the settlement of the Iraqi crisis and its return to the aegis of the U.N.
Security Council," Russian news agencies reported.
The visits come amid international discussion of the role of the U.N. - and of
countries that aren't part of the U.S.-led coalition - in the postwar reconstruction of
Iraq.
Annan leaves Wednesday on a trip to France, Germany and Britain - as well as
Russia - to seek consensus from Security Council members on a U.N. role in
reconstruction. The U.S. remains at odds with much of the council, including its
closest ally, Britain, on what that role should be.
The Bush administration says the U.S.-led coalition fighting in Iraq must take the
lead in running and rebuilding Iraq. The European Union wants the U.N. to be a
major player.
Annan Monday advocated "an important role" for the U.N. in rebuilding Iraq,
stressing that only the world body can bring legitimacy to the job.
The St. Petersburg visits - which will bring Putin, Chirac and Schroeder close
together for the first time since U.S.-led forces attacked Iraq - also come as the
U.S. and Russia seek to ensure their relations, which improved with Russia's
support for the war in Afghanistan, aren't ruined by their sharp disagreement over
Iraq.
Putin has continued to criticize the war and the U.S. decision to fight without U.N.
approval but has emphasized the need to maintain close cooperation with the U.S.
The weekly Moscow News Tuesday quoted a senior U.S. State Department
official, Richard Haas, as saying Russia would have better chances of participating
in restoring the Iraqi economy if it took a "constructive" stance alongside the U.S.
when the U.N. debates reconstruction plans.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-08-03 1715ET |
