SYDNEY, March 15: Residents in a coastal city want to symbolically defect to France because they say the Australian government does not represent their anti-war stance on Iraq, local media reported on Wednesday.

Representatives from the industrial town of Wollongong, 90 kilometres south of Sydney, visited French Consul General Marc Finaud on Tuesday.

The Australian government won’t represent our views on Iraq, so we want you to, delegation leader Arthur Rorris told Finaud, according to Australian Associated Press.

France has been one of the strongest opponents of Washington’s moves to authorize war against Iraq if it fails to satisfy disarmament demands.

Wollongong citizens — as well as local, state and federal lawmakers representing their district — asked that France represent Wollongong and exercise its UN Security Council veto against military action in Iraq.—QNA