Chinese agency analyzes French "pre-emptive strike" in UN Security Council.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

France's recently circulated proposal to strengthen UN weapons inspections in Iraq has launched a new round of "diplomatic struggle" in the Security Council, with UNMOVIC chief Blix's 14 February report set to intensify the "multilateral against unilateral" position, Chinese state agency has analysed. The French "pre-emptive strike" has also shown France's dislike of private bilateral US-UK consultations, disrupting their "diplomatic rhythm" by bringing up the question of further inspections in advance and thereby gaining the diplomatic upper hand, the report said. It concludes the USA and UK will not accept such a proposal with the delay involved in training more inspectors. Following is the text of the "News analysis" by Xinhua reporters Guo Lijun and Duan Jiyong entitled: "Why France launched a pre-emptive strike"; carried by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

United Nations, 11 February: On 11 February the permanent French delegation to the United Nations unofficially circulated a proposal to Security Council members on strengthening weapons inspection in Iraq, thus …