Berlin, Feb 10: The UN Security Council is discussing an alternative to military action against Iraq based on proposals by French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin on February 5, a German spokesman said today. Government spokesman Bela Anda stressed that "there is no Franco-German plan and these ideas are being thought over by all the members of the UN Security Council."
The proposals were being discussed with "all the members of the Security Council," Anda said. Germany is the current head of the Council.
The weekly Der Spiegel reported a "secret" Franco-German plan in today's edition, which it said could include sending UN peacekeepers in to Iraq, tripling the number of UN weapons inspectors and turning the whole of the country into a no-fly zone.
Anda said France and Germany had been discussing "common ideas" to reinforce the work of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq and sanctions against President Saddam Hussein's regime.
He said that the idea of sending peacekeepers to Iraq had been around for a long time.
"Whether a deployment happens and the number of peacekeepers involved would depend essentially" on the Security Council and on the needs of the UN weapons inspectors, he said.
Speaking in Afghanistan earlier today, German defence minister Peter Struck denied reports that the proposals envisaged deploying peacekeepers.
"It's a question of increasing the number of UN disarmament inspectors present in Iraq," struck said on a visit to the afghan capital Kabul. Bureau Report