France and Germany fired another shot across US threats to wage war on Iraq Wednesday by saying they shared a common position in opposing such a conflict.

French President Jacques Chirac said at a joint media conference with Germany Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder at his side that "Germany and France have the same judgement on the Iraq crisis" and that the two felt "everything must be done to avoid war".

The comments add to warnings from French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin this week that France might use its veto in the UN Security Council to block a resolution backing a US-led war and that it was seeking a single EU position in the crisis.

Schroeder, meanwhile, has said bluntly that his country - which joined the UN Security Council as a temporary member this month - would vote against a resolution for war and would not take part in any conflict with Iraq, even with UN backing.

Chirac said France and Germany's stance could be summed up in two points and would be pursued in the Security Council.

"The first is that any decision for the Security Council belongs to it alone, to be expressed after hearing the report of the inspectors", who are searching for alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

The second is that, "for us, war is always evidence of failure.

Everything must be done to avoid war." Schroeder underscored Chirac's words by saying: "We both want a peaceful solution to the crisis in Iraq and we are working in close cooperation." The French president added: "That is our position and we want to make sure it is understood as clearly as possible, especially by the international community." The joint statement was seen as a strident message from France and Germany to the United States to temper its ambitions of using military force to achieve "regime change" in Baghdad, which Washington claims is hiding illegal chemical, biological or nuclear arms.

The issue is expected to come to a head next week, when chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix gives a key update to the UN Security Council on Monday.

US President George W. Bush is to deliver his annual State of the Union address on Tuesday amid a burgeoning US and British military deployment to the Gulf.

Chirac and Schroeder's opposition, declared at the start of 40th anniversary celebrations of the 1963 Elysee treaty that set the cornerstone of the Franco-German post-war alliance, undermines Bush's attempts to draw allies in behind his ambitions to depose Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

It also prefigures the likely conflict in the UN Security Council, whose chair is held by France this month and by Germany next month.

De Villepin used a council meeting on combatting terrorism Monday to hint that France might use its veto to stymie a resolution authorising use of force against Iraq.

"Using force like that would only be a last resort assuming all other possibilities are exhausted," he said, adding that France was ready to "go to the end" over this issue.

On Tuesday, de Villepin and his Belgian counterpart, Louis Michel, said in Brussels that they hoped to forge an EU consensus on Iraq, particularly in terms of demanding that any plan to start a war be made the subject of a second UN resolution - something Washington has insisted is not necessary.

"We would like to think" that a common EU position could be arrived at during a meeting of EU foreign ministers next Monday and Tuesday, de Villepin said.

But, so far, EU resistance is not uniform.

Britain, the most loyal US ally, has sent 30 000 troops and 15 warships to the Gulf to support 60 000 US service personnel and five US aircarft carriers in or on the way to the region in preparation for what looks like an imminent conflict.

Spain has broken ranks, too, by saying it does not consider a second resolution as necessary, and Italy has said it would support the United States if war was organised within the UN "framework" Sapa-AFP.