BRUSSELS, Feb 28: France and Germany on Friday called on the United States to stop an accelerating “slide” towards military action, saying war would be wrong just when UN inspectors are producing results.

Speaking as the UN welcomed Iraq’s decision in principle to start destroying its banned al-Samoud 2 missiles, the two key anti-war countries reiterated that a peaceful solution is still possible.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin also questioned Washington’s strategy, saying it appeared to be heading towards a “remodelling of the Middle East.”

“It is clear today that the American military timetable is not in step with the timetable of the international community,” he said in an interview published in a number of European newspapers.

“We can clearly see that what the US is saying is progressively sliding from a logic of disarmament to that of regime change and even, more broadly, to a remodelling of the Middle East,” he said.

France and Germany have led opposition to a second UN resolution tabled by the US, Britain and Spain which would in effect give a green light for war on Iraq.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer warned bluntly that it would be wrong to launch a war against Iraq just when UN inspections are producing results.

“I don’t understand why this process should be ended now, just when it is beginning to show concrete results... and that one is reaching for the measure of last resort,” he said in Brussels.

UN chief arms inspector Hans Blix welcomed Friday as “very significant” Iraq’s decision in principle to destroy its banned al-Samoud 2 missiles.

“There are very many of these missiles, and a lot of items that pertain to them which have to be destroyed,” he said. “So this is a very significant piece of real disarmament.”

De Villepin, speaking after the Iraqi missile move was confirmed, called it “an important step in the process of Iraq’s peaceful disarmament.

“It confirms that the inspections are yielding results,” de Villepin said in Paris after meeting his Greek counterpart George Papandreou, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.—AFP