WASHINGTON, March 2: French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin on Sunday said a French veto against a new United Nations Security Council resolution on Iraq could not be ruled out.

Speaking to US television broadcaster ABC, de Villepin said France would take up its responsibility in the security council but he would not say whether France would veto a new resolution.

De Villepin renewed his call for increased weapons inspections, saying that the possible consequences of war justified caution in the use of arms. The time when countries could be pushed into the desired vote was past, he added. Earlier, de Villepin told the BBC’s Breakfast with Frost programme: “When we wrote together the Security Council Resolution 1441, what did we say? We said we should work through the inspections until the point when we found ourselves in a deadlock.

“It is for the inspectors to write a report saying: We can’t work any more.

“Are we in such a situation? No. Do we need a second resolution? No. Are we going to oppose a second resolution? Yes, as are the Russians and many other countries,” the outspoken De Villepin said. He added that 90 per cent of countries around the globe and 80 per cent of the European public backed France’s stance on Iraq.—dpa