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Blair to try to change Chirac`s Iraq stance at summit
Le Touquet, Feb 04: A French-British summit opens today with a focus on Iraq. During talks at a northern seaside resort, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to try to persuade French President Jacques Chirac to ease his anti-war stance.
Le Touquet, Feb 04: A French-British summit opens today with a focus on Iraq. During talks at a northern seaside resort, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to try to persuade French President Jacques Chirac to ease his anti-war stance.
At issue is a possible second UN Security Council
resolution on Iraq that would justify military action against
Saddam Hussein over his alleged weapons of mass destruction.
France has hinted it might use its veto power as one of five permanent members of the Security Council to block a resolution calling for an attack on Iraq.
Blair has long supported US President George W. Bush's stance that UN backing might not be necessary, and Britain is Washington's closest ally on Iraq sending 35,000 troops to the Persian Gulf to prepare for a possible war.
But after talking with Bush in Washington last week, Blair went further than before in support of a Security Council vote on Iraq.
In Le Touquet, a resort town of grassy beaches and pine forests, French police filled the quiet, shop-lined streets ahead of military ceremonies where leaders were to review troops and listen to both national anthems.
In talks throughout the afternoon, Blair is expected to repeat an argument he advanced yesterday in the House of Commons that the United Nations could be discredited if it fails to follow through on demands that Saddam disarm.
"Show weakness now and no one will ever believe us when we try to show strength in the future," the British leader said. Buraeu Report
France has hinted it might use its veto power as one of five permanent members of the Security Council to block a resolution calling for an attack on Iraq.
Blair has long supported US President George W. Bush's stance that UN backing might not be necessary, and Britain is Washington's closest ally on Iraq sending 35,000 troops to the Persian Gulf to prepare for a possible war.
But after talking with Bush in Washington last week, Blair went further than before in support of a Security Council vote on Iraq.
In Le Touquet, a resort town of grassy beaches and pine forests, French police filled the quiet, shop-lined streets ahead of military ceremonies where leaders were to review troops and listen to both national anthems.
In talks throughout the afternoon, Blair is expected to repeat an argument he advanced yesterday in the House of Commons that the United Nations could be discredited if it fails to follow through on demands that Saddam disarm.
"Show weakness now and no one will ever believe us when we try to show strength in the future," the British leader said. Buraeu Report