DRESDEN, Germany - France and Germany responded coolly on Thursday to a U.S. move to win a United Nations mandate for a peacekeeping force for Iraq, and the new Iraqi foreign minister said Turkish troops would be unwelcome.

We are ready to examine the proposals but they seem quite far from what appears to us the primary objective, namely the transfer of political responsibility to an Iraqi government as soon as possible.

French President Jacques Chirac

"We are ready to examine the proposals but they seem quite far from what appears to us the primary objective, namely the transfer of political responsibility to an Iraqi government as soon as possible," French President Jacques Chirac said.

Facing almost daily casualties in Iraq, Washington has drafted a new U.N. resolution aimed at getting more countries to contribute soldiers and cash to its occupation. But it insists on full U.S. military control and a dominant political role.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told a news conference with Chirac that the proposals showed movement in the U.S. position but did not go far enough. He said that while France and Germany opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq, they now wanted to help bring stability and democracy to the country.

"Such a perspective can only develop if the United Nations takes over responsibility for the political process and if an Iraqi administration is installed," Schroeder said.

The proposed U.N. resolution marked a policy reversal for the administration of President Bush, which had resisted U.N. involvement after the Security Council's refusal to approve the war that toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

France, Russia, China and Germany were among nations on the Security Council which opposed the war.

Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel welcomed the U.S. plan, but did not say if his country would provide troops.

French President Jacques Chirac (front L) and French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin (front R) meet with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (rear L) and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer in the famous Dresden castle Zwinger September 4, 2003. Chirac and Schroeder said they were not ready yet to accept a U.S. draft for a new United Nations resolution on Iraq. Photo by Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

U.N. COVER

Wary of Iraqi hostility to the U.S.-led occupation, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey and other potential contributors have balked at sending troops without an international mandate.

Newly appointed Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said his government would not welcome troops from neighboring countries because they might meddle in Iraq's affairs.

Asked about a possible Turkish peacekeeping role, he told the Arabic television channel Al Jazeera: "Our neighboring countries have their own political agendas, which they could bring with them to Iraq, thus causing more instability in Iraq."

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan shrugged off Zebari's remarks, saying Ankara would make its own decision.

"The Iraqi minister's statement reflects his own opinion. We have committees working there (in Iraq) at the moment and we will make an assessment," he told reporters.

Zebari, a Kurd who is part of a cabinet named this week by the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, criticized Turkey's interventions in northern Kurdish-dominated areas of Iraq.

Turkey considers northern Iraq to be an area of strategic interest. It has kept troops there since the 1990s, fighting Turkish Kurd rebels operating from the border mountains.

Washington wants Turkey, NATO's only Muslim member, to send troops quickly. The Turkish public has little enthusiasm for such a mission, but Ankara knows that another refusal to commit forces to Iraq could jeopardize much-needed U.S. loans.

Iraq's neighbor, Jordan, said it welcomed an expanded U.N. role in Iraq but had no plans to send its own troops there.

"We have stated in the past that we will not send Jordanian troops in the shadow of occupation and our position has not changed," Information Minister Nabil al-Sharif told Reuters.

Copyright 2003 Reuters Ltd

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