France says 25 states to protest Iceland whaling

PARIS, Nov 1 (Reuters) A group of 25 countries plan to tell Iceland they object to its resumption of commercial whale hunts despite an international ban, and will urge it to stop, France's Foreign Ministry said.

Political heavyweights the United States, Germany, Britain and Italy were part of the initiative, as were South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, and long-time eco-warrior New Zealand, the ministry said yesterday.

Some of these countries have already independently condemned the whale hunt.

''France and 24 other states will make a joint approach to the Icelandic foreign and fisheries ministries on November one to express their opposition to the resumption of commercial whale hunting and ask the Icelandic authorities to reconsider their policy,'' the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Reykjavik earlier this month decided to resume commercial whale hunts for the first time in two decades, allowing whalers to catch nine fin whales and 30 minke whales in the year to August 31, 2007 despite the 1986 moratorium by the International Whaling Commission.

Hunting resumed shortly afterwards.

Fin whales are rated an endangered species on a ''Red List'' compiled by the World Conservation Union but Iceland says they are plentiful in the north Atlantic. Iceland says that its hunts are legal under international law.

Other countries that had joined the protest included Chile, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Israel, Monaco, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Land-locked Luxembourg, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia had also signed on, France said.

The European Union condemned Iceland's decision to resume whaling and urged it to reconsider the decision earlier this month.

The European Commission was also part of this joint initiative, France said in the statement.

Iceland, which has hunted minke whales since 2003 as part of scientific research, has joined Norway in sanctioning full-blown commercial whaling. Japan allows whaling, but says it is for research purposes.

REUTERS MS BD0839