United Nations, Feb 11: Germany, France and Russia will seek to bring their proposal for stepped-up arms inspections in Iraq to the UN Security Council, diplomatic sources said. Ambassadors from the three countries have asked that the proposal be distributed to other council members, said the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"This joint declaration will be distributed in the next several hours to all council members and we hope it will receive broad approval," a diplomat said. Earlier, the three countries agreed force could only be used as a last resort and united behind proposals made last week by French foreign minister Dominique De Villepin, who notably called for doubling or tripling the number of arms inspectors on the ground and the deployment of spy planes for surveillance.

Bureau Report