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France, Germany Concerned About Iraq Force Plan
France and Germany expressed their reservations over the U.S. plans to form a stabilization force with their exclusion Saturday as it seems to be a punishment for their staunch anti-war opposition. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin reserved on the scope of the plan, saying many countries that would like to take part were concerned about the legal underpinnings for any such force. "A lot of countries who were interested in joining the planned force expressed their concern about having a legal framework, specifically about clearly marking out the role of the United Nations so they could really take part, or consider doing so. "For the moment the aim is only to expand what the British and the Americans are already doing on the ground. Let's wait to see how things work out in practice," said De Villepin.German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer also said his country knew about the plans, decided at a conference in London April 30. "It was clear that... a few EU states other than the UK were involved in it or at least made clear that they were participating with troops or troops and humanitarian aid," he said. An American official said that the United States and its war allies were forming a stabilization force, dividing Iraq into three sectors to be commanded by the United States, Britain and Poland. "The thought is the force would be generated by a coalition of the willing on a bilateral basis," said the official. The official said there was a consensus in Washington that the U.N. role should be restricted to "what it does best" — humanitarian affairs, dealing with refugees and internally displaced people, and reconstruction.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-05-04 |
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