Iraq rejects British proposal

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Iraq rejects British proposal

Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri hasdismissed Britain's compromise UN proposal, calling it "an attempt to beautify a rejected aggressive project."

"It's trying to polish this project, which has been rejected by the majority of Security Council members," Sabri said in Baghdad.

Asked about divisions in the Security Council, Sabri said it wasn't divided at all.

"These are not divisions. There is a majority on the Security Council rejecting the policy of war adopted by British and American evil," he said. "This majority adheres to peace."

Asked why the United States was insisting on a Security Council resolution authorising war, Sabri said: "The United States with its policy of aggression wants international cover for this aggression."

He also said a high-level Arab peace mission that was scheduled to travel to Baghdad this week would not come, although he said Iraq had not rejected the visit.

"We did not refuse to receive the Arab committee," Sabri said. "They are coming not for tourism. They are coming for work, and this requires measures."

"We are trying to agree on a time appropriate for both sides," he added.

The Arab delegation had been scheduled to travel to Baghdad tomorrow

AP - France indicated that it does not support a new British proposal setting out conditions for Iraq's disarmament, saying Baghdad must be given a realistic deadline to get rid of its weapons of mass destruction.

The British proposals "do not respond to the questions the international community is asking," Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said in a statement. "It's not about giving a few more days to Iraq before resorting to force but about resolutely advancing through peaceful disarmament."

Britain this week set out a list of conditions for Iraq's disarmament, hoping to break an impasse at the United Nations that has left Prime Minister Tony Blair vulnerable at home because of his support for the tough US line. The conditions include a TV appearance by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein renouncing weapons of mass destruction.

De Villepin said he believes weapons inspections in Iraq are "producing results" and that France supports all the countries of the Security Council that want to "give Iraq a realistic delay for reaching effective disarmament."

France said it does not support the idea of an ultimatum. It wants to "set out a framework for inspections with a work program and a precise calendar," de Villepin said.