***** 12 Mar 2003 23:57 Canada urges France to reconsider U.N. veto threat By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, March 12 (Reuters) - Canada urged France on Wednesday to reconsider its threat to veto any U.N. resolution that authorizes the use of force against Iraq, saying Paris should instead consider a Canadian initiative to bridge the deep splits between Security Council members.
Ottawa put forward a proposal on Tuesday under which Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would be given a three-week deadline for Baghdad to comply with U.N. demands to disarm or face the possibility of war.
Foreign Minister Bill Graham said this could avoid a war by making it clear to Saddam that Iraq would not be invaded if he fulfilled the demands being made upon him.
The six swing votes on the Security Council -- Chile, Mexico, Pakistan, Cameroon, Guinea and Angola -- back the proposal but it could still founder on opposition from France, which made clear on Monday that it would use its veto to block a resolution authorizing war.
Washington and its allies aim to present such a resolution to the Security Council in the very near future. If France did cast a veto, it is widely expected the United States would then decide to attack Iraq....
<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N12348115> ***** -- Yoshie
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