France said on Tuesday the world did not back President Bush's ultimatum to Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq within 48 hours or face military action.
The office of French President Jacques Chirac said in a statement the United Nations Security Council opposed the move, and that ignoring international opinion would carry a "heavy responsibility."
"This unilateral decision is contrary to the wishes of the Security Council and of the international community, who wish to pursue the disarmament of Iraq in accordance with (U.N.) resolution 1441," the Elysee presidential palace said.
"Whatever the objective pursued, France recalls that only the Security Council has the authority to justify the use of force," it added.
"Shirking the legitimacy of the United Nations, privileging force over justice, that would be taking on a heavy responsibility," the statement said.
Meanwhile, United Nations weapons inspectors, told to pull out of Iraq ahead of a likely U.S. invasion, left their Baghdad headquarters on Tuesday morning for the city's airport, witnesses said.
A convoy of four minibuses left the U.N. building on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital.
"It is unfortunate, but we have to leave. It was a high-level decision," Hiro Ueki, a spokesman for the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), said before departure.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has ordered all international U.N. staff, including the weapons inspectors, their support staff and humanitarian workers to evacuate as the United States prepares for military action.
Iraq has bitterly attacked Annan for pulling his staff out of Baghdad, accusing him of bowing to pressure from Washington and saying the Iraqi people would pay the price for a halt in Iraq's U.N.-supervised oil-for-food accord. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
