Rumsfeld In Baghdad, Paris, Berlin Oppose U.N. Resolution

The French and Germans said the U.S.-proposed U.N. resolution on a multinational force in Iraq did not fulfill conditions laid down by the United Nations, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

In Strasbourg, French and German defense ministers criticized the draft U.N. resolution shortly after President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had said the U.S. proposal failed to go far enough in insuring a transfer of authority to an Iraqi government.

The draft resolution calls for a multinational security force — implicitly under U.S. command — and endorses the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council, but that does not fulfill the conditions proposed by U.N. chief Kofi Annan to give more responsibility to the world body, German Defense Minister Peter Struck and his French counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie agreed.

"As long as the juridical situation has not changed, the German government has no plans to take part in a military intervention in Iraq," Struck insisted.

After talks in the eastern city of Dresden with Schroeder, Chirac said: "Really, it appears some way from the principal goal which is the transfer of authority to an Iraqi government as soon as possible."