GERMANY: There was an "overwhelming majority" on the UN Security Council for a second resolution before any decision to launch military action against Iraq, Germany said yesterday.
At the same time it said the UN inspectors investigating Baghdad's alleged programme of weapons of mass destruction still offered "a big opportunity" to avoid war.
The German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schröder, and his Foreign Minister, Mr Joschka Fischer, pleaded for more diplomacy a day after the chief UN inspectors reported back to the UN Security Council that Iraq was defying international demands to disarm.
Germany is opposed to a war and has said it would not vote in favour of military action, without clarifying if it would abstain or vote no. As one of 10 non-permanent members on the Security Council it does not have a veto, unlike the big five powers, but its stance could be influential, especially as it takes the chair in February, when any resolution is likely to come up.
Mr Schröder said Germany wanted a second resolution. "That is the position we have on this issue and also the position of the overwhelming majority of the Security Council," he told NDR television .
He said earlier there were "still chances for a peaceful solution". Resolution 1441, which ordered Iraq to co-operate actively with inspectors, did not specifically provide for military action.
Mr Fischer said Monday's report by the inspectors was "an opportunity that has to be used".
Germany wants the inspectors to have all the time they need to finish their mission, although Mr Fischer would not say how much longer he thought that should be.
He urged Iraq to comply in full with its obligations, notably in answering questions about its alleged programme. "These gaps must be filled."
In an interview for the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper to to be published today, Mr Schröder insisted the way to solve the crisis was through diplomacy and the inspectors.
"Precisely because of our German history, we must insist on war as being a last resort. Our stance is right".