4:54pm UK, Friday March 21, 2003

France would block any UN resolution giving the US and Britain the power of administration in Iraq, French President Jacques Chirac has declared.

He said France would still not support a resolution backing war at this stage and would also oppose a resolution giving Washington and London administrative power in Iraq.

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Mr Chirac in Brussels

"This idea of a resolution seems to me to be a way of authorising military intervention after the event, and so is not, in my point of view, fitting in the current situation," Mr Chirac said at a news conference in Brussels.

"France would not accept a resolution that authorises military intervention and gives the United States and Britain administrative powers in Iraq."