Chirac, Clinton, Blair discuss the Iraqi issue by telephone

The spokeswoman for the French presidential palace, Catherine Colona, has announced that French President Jacques Chirac, his US counterpart Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair discussed the Iraqi crisis on the telephone.

Colona was quoted as saying that the 50-minute telephone call had given the chance for the three leaders to think full together and evaluate the significance of the Iraqi message which implies Iraq's consent to resume cooperation with the UN.

The three leaders also discussed "results that can be concluded."

On Sunday morning, Chirac, who is in Guatemala, called upon Iraq to resume its cooperation with no reservations with UNSCOM's inspectors, noting this is the "only condition that would enable saying that the current crisis has been eliminated."

France viewed that the message Baghdad sent to UN chief Kofi Annan would "abrogate the need for military intervention against Iraq."