UNITED NATIONS, 25 September 2003 — The leading opponents of the war in Iraq, France, Germany and Russia, promised yesterday a “constructive” approach to US efforts to enlist international help in rebuilding the shattered nation, French President Jacques Chirac said.
Speaking after talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Chirac also stressed there was no split between Paris and Germany on Iraq.
The three leaders spearheaded opposition to the war on Iraq, which US President George W. Bush defended before a skeptical audience of world leaders at the United Nations on Tuesday.
Chirac called the three-way talks “cordial, friendly and positive” and said there was common ground on how to approach the question of the US resolution, which seeks a UN mandate for multinational troops in Iraq.
“Naturally we talked about the preparation of the resolution on Iraq which is due soon at the Security Council,” he said. “We have concluded that we would like to go about this preparation in a positive and constructive spirit.”
Putin’s chief foreign policy adviser Sergei Prikhodko stressed that the three nations were not once again seeking to counter the United States. “These contacts are in no way directed against those leaders who have not been invited” to the three-way talks, Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying.
The talks came immediately after Schroeder met US President George W. Bush to declare their 16-month rift a thing of the past and pledge to work together to rebuild Iraq.
Later, in a speech to the UN General Assembly, Schroeder said Germany was ready to assume a role in helping to rebuild Iraq. He said Germany was willing to provide “humanitarian, technical and economic” help in its reconstruction.
Washington, which is struggling with the financial burden of reconstructing war-shattered Iraq and has failed to bring security despite its massive military presence, is looking to other nations to contribute funds and troops.
France, Germany and Russia have all suggested changes to the draft US resolution, urging a speeded-up handover of power by US-led occupation forces — something Washington believes is “unrealistic.”
But Moscow appeared flexible, with Russian sources saying negotiations on the resolution were under way, Observers say Russia wants a piece of the lucrative oil business in Iraq, which has the world’s second largest proven reserves.
And Germany — more than France — has shown signs of being willing to edge closer toward the United States for the sake of better bilateral ties following Berlin’s diplomatic isolation by the US over the war.
Meanwhile, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri criticized the war on Iraq and US policy in the Mideast. But a US official later described her meeting afterward with Bush as having an “excellent” atmosphere.
In an address for the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York, the leader of the most populous Muslim country said, “It is difficult to refute the impression that the policy on conflict resolution in the Middle East is not only unjust but also one-sided.”
As for Iraq, she said, “The war has created far many more problems than those it intended to solve.”
Later, Megawati held her fourth meeting with Bush, which the senior US administration official called “a good discussion” particularly focused on continued cooperation in the war on terrorism.
