UNITED NATIONS, Feb 6: France and Germany on Wednesday reaffirmed their opposition to an invasion of Iraq, proposing instead that weapons inspections be strengthened.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer suggested tripling the number of inspectors and placing a full-time monitor in Baghdad to oversee the process.

“The use of force can only be a final recourse,” de Villepin said at a special UN security council session, attended by 12 other foreign ministers.

“We must move on to a new stage and further strengthen the inspections.”

The foreign minister said France would carefully review the evidence provided by US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday, but he emphasized that inspections were working and had resulted in major achievements.

Still, he acknowledged, there was more that Iraq could do to avert a war.

Agencies add: Germany stood by its appeal for a peaceful solution to the crisis despite new US charges about Baghdad’s arms, rejecting as “rubbish” US goading that its anti-war stance put it on a par with Libya and Cuba.

Chief government spokesman Bela Anda said in a statement that Germany was concerned about indications presented by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to the security council that Iraq still possessed weapons of mass destruction.

But he said Germany still sought a peaceful resolution to the dispute and supported French proposals to intensify weapons inspections in Iraq, saying inspectors must have more time.

“The sitting on Feb 5 showed that the majority of security council members, just like Germany, want to exhaust all political means to solve the conflict, in particular for a continuation of the inspection regime,” Anda said.