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STATEMENT BY THE SPOKESPERSON
FRENCH MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
January 30, 2003
Excerpts
Q - Was France invited to sign the letter from the eight European leaders? Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said he's pleased that American officials plan on presenting evidence. Is there a similarity of views between Paris and Washington?
We were aware of the letter. I don't know any more about it. We have one goal: the disarmament of Iraq. To achieve that goal, it is important to make additional information available to the Security Council and the inspectors. We have expressed our expectations in this regard on several occasions.
Q - Is European solidarity shaken and is the Franco-German Union weakened or isolated following the decision of eight European countries to support a possible U.S. military operation against Iraq?
The joint European position is enriched by the contributions of all its members, and they are always useful when it comes to strengthening our resolve to work in common.
Q - What will the meetings between the Quai d'Orsay and an Iraqi opposition figure who is a member of SCIRI be about?
A meeting is scheduled today between an official in the North Africa-Mideast section and a delegation from the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. It's not the first meeting of this kind—it falls within the ministry's usual way of working—but we don't comment on meetings at that level.