France: US taking on 'heavy responsibility'

French President Jacques Chirac today suggested the United States was defying the international community with its ultimatum to Saddam Hussein.

Washington bears a “heavy responsibility” for the consequences, he warned.

“This unilateral decision is contrary to the wishes of the (UN) Security Council and the international community which wants to pursue disarmament.”

Chirac reiterated what France has long maintained – that efforts to solve the Iraq crisis by peaceful, diplomatic means must be exhausted before considering any recourse to force.

However, in the increasingly tense transatlantic climate, the brief statement served to underscore the differences between Paris and Washington.

Chirac’s statement was issued hours after US President George Bush ordered the Iraqi leader to leave his country within 48 hours or face war.

Bush said on international television that Saddam’s exile was the only way for Iraq to avoid a war.

“Only the Security Council can legitimise the use of force,” Chirac’s statement said. To forego “the legitimacy of the United Nations, to privilege force over law is to bear a heavy responsibility,” the French president warned.

France has led the effort to solve the Iraq crisis by diplomatic means. France, backed by Russia and Germany, wanted to give UN weapons inspectors in Iraq more time and more means to uncover arms of mass destruction.

However, that effort drew to a close yesterday with the US decision not to call for a UN Security Council vote on a second resolution paving the way for the use of force against Iraq.

Chirac had said France – which has veto power in the Security Council – would use its veto if necessary to crush any automatic use of force against Iraq.

That might not have been necessary because the United States did not appear to have the needed nine votes in the 15-member body to pass the resolution.

Despite the bellicose nature of the resolution, also backed by Britain and Spain, it had the benefit of keeping the Iraq crisis in the diplomatic sphere.

With war looming, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced yesterday that UN inspectors and other UN personnel were being ordered to leave Iraq. Many nations began withdrawing diplomatic personnel.

Last night, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said the move to abandon diplomacy “risks serious consequences for the region and the world”.

His phrase “serious consequences” matched the wording in an earlier resolution on Iraq that sent arms inspectors back into the country.

For the United States, “serious consequences” meant war. However, France never saw those words as an automatic trigger for war.