The Mexican government did not rule out the possibility of referring Washington's plan on building fences on the US- Mexico border to the United Nations (UN), said visiting Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez in Paris on Monday.

The Mexican government is assessing the issue of filing a case against Washington through an investigation which is still underway, he told reporters after talks with his French counterpart Philippe Douste-Blazy, noting once the "right elements are there, of course we will proceed."

Vowing to work until the last day of outgoing President Vincente Fox's term, which is due to end on Dec. 1, the minister said he did not know whether President-elect Felipe Calderon will continue the legal analysis.

Last week when asked if the Mexican government would refer the issue to the UN, he said it was "examining with the foreign relations legal team what options are open at an international level, and we will take them."

Despite Mexico's efforts to lobby for a veto, US President George W. Bush last Wednesday signed a bill, which had been passed earlier by the US Congress, on building about 1,125 km of new fencing along the US- Mexico border aimed at preventing illegal immigration.

Under the bill, about US$1.2 billion will be spent during the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1 for southwest border fencing and other barriers.

The plan has aroused strong opposition from Mexico. Fox called the fence plan "shameful."

Meanwhile, Calderon said the fences are not a solution to illegal immigration, and he described the case as a bilateral issue that should not be referred to the international community.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2006)