Brussels, Oct 16: Germany, France and Russia - Europe's leading opponents to the US-led war in Iraq - said today they will vote in favor of the UN resolution on Iraq in a bid to restore international solidarity to the reconstruction effort. But in a blow to Washington's hopes that the resolution would attract troops and money to stabilize the country, leaders of the three countries ruled out any military commitments for now. They also fudged on financial contributions. French diplomats said France and Germany have agreed to train Iraqi police either in the country or in Europe, but declined to say how much they will commit financially to that training program.
They said both countries will attend the donors' conference in Madrid, Spain, next week, however.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, French President Jacques Chirac and Russian President Vladimir Putin made their decision during a 45-minute conference call, Schroeder said.

"We agreed that the resolution is really an important step in the right direction," he said.

At a news conference in Brussels, where he and Chirac were attending a summit of European Union leaders, Schroeder said that the three found their concerns about the speed and direction of Iraqi reconstruction and restoring sovereignty were reflected in Washington's latest draft. Bureau Report