UNITED NATIONS, Feb 27: The majority of UN Security Council members do not believe that the time for war is ripe, the French ambassador to the United Nations said on Thursday.

“The majority do not think it is time to go to war and it is possible to disarm Iraq by peaceful means,” ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said after more than three hours of consultations on a US-British draft resolution.

“This a very defining moment for the Security Council,” he told reporters.

“This is a resolution about war. It asks the council to authorize the use of force,” he said.—AFP