Leaders of the main countries opposing the U.S.-led military action against Baghdad will meet this weekend and are expected to press for a major role for the United Nations in a postwar Iraq. A Kremlin statement said French President Jacques Chirac would join Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder at long scheduled talks in Russia's second city of St Petersburg on Friday and Saturday.

The statement on the meeting in Putin's hometown made no mention of any agenda. But it is certain to be topped by discussion on how to proceed with reconstruction in Iraq after the U.S.-led war to remove President Saddam Hussein.

All three states have adopted a more conciliatory approach as U.S. and British troops advance through Iraq, but say they want the U.N. to be the principal body overseeing reconstruction efforts.

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Tuesday the United Nations should have a "vital role."

But it was unclear how much power they believed the U.N. should have outside humanitarian matters.

A United Nations spokesman in New York denied initial reports, both by the Kremlin and the U.N. office in Moscow, that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan would join the talks on Saturday.

France, Germany and Russia formed the backbone of opposition to Washington's hawkish stance on Iraq, calling instead for diplomatic efforts through the United Nations to ensure the country was free of alleged weapons of mass destruction.

PHOTO CAPTION

French President Jacques Chirac (R) answers questions after his meeting with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers of the Netherlands (L) at the Elysee Palace in Paris April 8, 2003. (Charles Platiau/Reuters)