"There will be no second resolution authorizing the use of force," said French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin at a joint press conference in Paris with his Russian and German counterparts Igor Ivanov and Joschka Fisher.

The three men held an emergency meeting 48 hours ahead of a UN Security Council hearing of latest progress of the UN weapons inspections. The United States said it will decide whether to put its resolution draft for vote early next week after judging Friday's hearing.

France and Russia "will assume all of their responsibilities at the security council" concerning the Iraqi crisis, said de Villepin, reading a joint statement by the three ministers.

This could be interpreted as a hint that either or both, as permanent member of the council, could use their veto power to block the US-drafted resolution.

Reiterating that the role of the United Nations is indispensable in the solution of the Iraqi crisis, de Villepin said Paris, Moscow and Berlin share the common objective of "the effective and complete disarmament of Iraq."

"We believe that this objective could be achieved by the peaceful path of inspections...We believe that the process of the destruction of Al Samoud missiles has started and is making progress," he said.

The three nations, which formed a united front opposing any rush to war by issuing a joint declaration last month, fully support the UN chief arms inspectors Hans Blix and Mohammed ElBaradei, de Villepin added.

France's conviction is that a war could only increase tensions and would certainly help the search for a peaceful solution in the Middle East, he said.

Ivanov said, "The possibilities of a political solution still exist, even if there is only once chance to avoid war."

"The path that we are proposing now is the most rational," he said, adding that China, another veto-holding permanent member of the UN Security Council, supports France and Russia in opposing the new pro-war resolution.

The German minister said "absolutely everything must be done to find a peaceful solution."

"We see clearly that there is progress (in the process of UN weapons inspections in Iraq), particularly with the destruction of (banned Al Samoud) missiles," said Fischer.

"I can not see how we can justify if we stop resorting to resolution 1441 and turn to the use of force," he said.

The United States and Britain, two other permanent members of the security council, have put forward a draft resolution declaring Iraq in breach of its disarmament obligations, thus exposing it to the "serious consequences" -- diplomatic language for war -- threatened in a previous resolution adopted unanimously last November.

Spain, a non-permanent member, backed the resolution.

To be passed, the text must have nine yes vote from 15 council members and no veto from any of the five permanent members.

The French satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine, famous for its inside scoop on French politics, said this week that in order to save the trans-Atlantic relations, France is unwilling to use its veto, which explains why it is doing everything possible to ensure that the American draft will not get the required nine vote of 15 council members.

A White House spokesman tried to minimize the renewed Paris-Moscow-Berlin opposition to US-drafted resolution. "It shows that the results are not decided yet and the members of the UN Security Council will face up to their responsibilities," he said.

However, to make the war-or-peace division sharper, US Assistant secretary of State for Arms Control Stephen Rademaker said Wednesday in Moscow that no second UN resolution is needed for the United States to launch war against Iraq.

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2003)