BERLIN – The German government said it supported French proposals to intensify weapons inspections in Iraq and said a majority of nations on the U.N. Security Council wanted a political solution to the conflict. Chief government spokesman Bela Anda said in a statement that Germany welcomed the presentation of new evidence by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to the Security Council on Iraq‘s suspected arms, saying it strengthened the world body. „Along with the majority of the Security Council members, the government demands that the presented facts are handed over to the inspectors and examined on the ground. The inspectors must get the time they need for their work,“ he said. Anda said Germany supported French proposals for intensifying the inspection regime in Iraq and called on Hussein to cooperate with the inspectors. „The sitting on February 5 showed that the majority of Security Council members, just like Germany, want to exhaust all political means to solve the conflict, in particular for a continuation of the inspection regime,“ he said. Reuters