Agence France-Presse,
BAGHDAD (AFP): French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Monday reiterated his country's readiness to help stabilise Iraq, during a flurry of talks with leaders of the country's bitterly divided communities.
“France is ready to play a role in the fight against the violence,” Kouchner said at a press conference after talks with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in Baghdad.
Kouchner arrived in Iraq on Sunday for a three-day visit, the first by a French official to the war ravaged country since the US-led invasion of March 2003 which Paris vehemently opposed.
Describing as “unacceptable” the bitter sectarian violence which has claimed thousands of lives in the past 18 months, he added: “We want to be at the side of this large and important country at the birth of its democracy.”
While not elaborating on the role he expected France to play, he indicated this may evolve through support of UN efforts in Iraq.
“One part of the fight against violence and the restoration of peace and democracy in the country lies with the United Nations. France approves this path and we will assist in this direction,” he said.
Kouchner, however cautioned he had no “miracle solution” to Iraq's problems.
His visit, shortly after President Nicolas Sarkozy made a fence-building trip to the United States, will be seen as a sign of France's eagerness to seek a role in Iraq, and was welcomed by the White House.
Talabani said Iraq was keen “to establish the best relations with France.”
“This visit is an historic opportunity to promote French-Iraqi relations,” he added.
During the course of Monday, Kouchner was also to meet Talabani's Sunni and Shiite vice presidents, Tareq al-Hashemi and Adel Abdel Mahdi, a diplomatic source said.
The source added he was also to meet Massud Barzani, president of Iraq's northern Kurdish region.
In a late-night meeting with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Sunday, Kouchner said he planned to canvas the viewpoints of Iraqis across the political spectrum.
A statement by Maliki's office said the prime minister had appealed to France to support the efforts of his government to achieve security and stability “through its regional contacts and its international stature.
“The government is working hard to set up a state which delivers justice equally to all and confronts terrorists and militias regardless of their affiliations,” the statement quoted Maliki as telling Kouchner.
Maliki also echoed Kouchner's view that Iraq's conflict could not be solved militarily and “therefore the government has been working to invite all sections of Iraqi people to the political process.”
“This is besides cooperating with the neighbouring countries to confront terror which is a threat to the whole world and not just Iraq.”
Maliki also called on French companies to participate in efforts to reconstruct Iraq, which, he said, had started ridding itself of terror groups.
On Sunday, Kouchner made it clear that France had no regrets about its original decision to oppose the US war on Iraq, which severely strained ties between Washington and France.
He also appeared to be in no hurry to increase France's involvement in Iraq.
“This is just the beginning, I hope, of sort of an end to the crisis. We want to play our cards and our role, but not today — neither tomorrow — but yes, one of these days,” he said on Sunday.
