French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told the UN Security Council that UN inspections in Iraq were showing results and war against Baghdad should be seen as only a last resort.
"Inspections are producing results ... The option of inspections has not been taken to the end," Mr de Villepin told the 15-nation council after chief UN weapons inspectors Dr Hans Blix and Dr Mohamed ElBaradei presented their latest report on Iraqi disarmament.
"The use of force would be so fraught with risk for people, for the region and for international stability that it should only be envisioned as a last resort," he said.
France is a permenant veto-holding member of the Security Council. It has threatened to use that veto to block a second UN resolution authorising the use of force against Iraq.