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France warns of 'illegitimate' war
PARIS, France -- French Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin has warned that declaring war before giving extra time to diplomacy would be "perceived as precipitous and illegitimate." In a French parliamentary debate he defended the country's anti-war stand, which has set Paris against Washington. France has been the highest-profile country in the battle to give United Nations weapons inspectors in Iraq more time and says a proposed second resolution which could be the trigger for war is not yet necessary. Raffarin told the French parliament: "A military intervention today, when all the chances for a peaceful solution have not been explored, would divide the international community. "(War would) cause a wave of incomprehension and suspicion. War would weaken the international coalition against terrorism." Raffarin's remarks come after France, Germany and Russia submitted their own proposal at the U.N. for the step-by-step disarmament of Iraq. Throughout the current crisis over Iraq, France has tried to pressure the United States and its allies to take a softer line, but has not said whether it would be prepared to use its Security Council veto to scupper a second resolution. Politicians applauded Raffarin's address which was being held at the same time as British Prime Minister Tony Blair was fighting a parliamentary revolt by MPs of his own party. (Facing rebels) CNN's Jim Bittermann says more than four out of five French, including his usual critics, agree with the stance of French President Jacques Chirac on Iraq. "No matter how the French president may be vilified in the United States, at home his insistence that U.N. arms inspectors should have time to do their job is enormously popular," he said. Waddick Doyle of the American University of Paris added: "Chirac has total consensus, there is no one in France who wants to go to war. From the left to the right, everyone is opposed to war." "They've lived through occupation and they know what occupation means, and they see the potential dangers in this war." Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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