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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 06, 2004

France not to send troops to Iraq now, says foreign minister

France does not envision to send troops into Iraq at present, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told French radio Europe 1 on Feb. 5.


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France does not envision to send troops into Iraq at present, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told French radio Europe 1 on Feb. 5.

"As far as the deployment of troops (to Iraq) is concerned, it is really not of actuality," said de Villepin, who is now on an official visit in Mexico.

"The key question is to get out of the political vacuum that Iraq lives now, to go forward towards the return of Iraq's sovereignty, which should be effective by June," he said.

"We will answer to Iraqi demands, to demands by a sovereign government," he said.

When asked about the Washington-Paris tensions, de Villepin reaffirmed that the reconciliation has been made through past months as both have multiplied exchanges and meetings.

"Our wish is to look to the future and see how we could advance on each of the issues," he said.

De Villepin is to meet with United States Secretary of State Colin Powell in New York on Friday on the sidewalk of a United Nations meeting on the reconstruction of Liberia.

In January, de Villepin said France is considering a possible role in Iraq to help bolster security, in particular through the creation of a school for gendarmes or the training of police, in the war-torn country once sovereignty has been fully handed over to the Iraqi people.

Until now, France -- which staunchly opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein -- has only spoken of offering non-military aid to the country, such as a team of police instructors.

French press said Paris would send a military contingent to Iraq to serve in a UN-mandated multinational force, but only after a transfer of sovereignty and following clear requests from a sovereign Iraqi government.

Source: Xinhua


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