Today's Date:

Not at all, France has maintained a very consistent position. We were against the war because we thought that there was an alternative. We thought that it was necessary to carry out a peaceful disarmament of Iraq. It was possible by what the inspectors were saying and we were listening very carefully to what they said in New York. We asked for the war to be as swift as possible and, if possible, with the least pain and death possible, you know that war always has tragic consequences. I think that today, it's a new page that is going to be turned after this dark page of the regime of Saddam Hussein. We still maintain the French position has always been very consistent. That's why we keep saying it's up to the United Nations to give the legitimacy of any action and it is the only one which can organise and assure the efficiency of Iraq's reconstruction. This is based entirely on the respect of principles and we support the law and moral values, we are against any dictator, that's why we said that the end of the regime of Saddam Hussein was a relief. Of course we think that what has been decided outside the international legitimacy of the UN should now come back within the UN framework in order to make sure that all the international community has the possibility to work for the reconstruction. We never thought that the reconstruction was going to be easy and what we are seeing today going on in Iraq shows clearly that the task will not be very [easy]. Iraq is not an Eldorado. Of course Iraq has resources and I think that these resources should be exploited for the benefit of the Iraqis. The international community now has the obligation to help the people of Iraq to reconstruct their country politically, economically, socially, administratively, all this is a very tough challenge and I don't think there's any material gain to be made from it.

Absolutely not. France has never defined her policy through any principles in any interest of this kind. France is interested in promoting an international order based on principles, principles of justice, principles of legality, principles of collective responsibility. This is guiding our policy. If you heard the speech that I made today, the essential point lies in these key principles. Iraq has defied the international community for twenty years. Iraq is going to remain a challenge in the years to come. If we want to be effective and if we want to be efficient, we need to be more united. I don't think that the matter of having any personal interest, any personal benefit is a matter of any kind. I think what should lead us is the interest of the Iraqi people, the interest of the region because we need to ensure the security of the Iraqi people, we need to ensure the security and the unity of Iraq, we need to ensure the integrity of Iraq, we need to ensure the stability of the region. That's why we think that we should have a global view of the problem of the region. As I said, we can't make a distinction between different types of suffering, and we all of course will think about the situation of the new Middle East, the situation of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict which we must address and take the initiative again, we can't hope to solve one question without addressing the other. All this is linked, the feeling of injustice is today very strong in this region. We should take it into account, we should try to find common answers. So it's not time to think about any personal, any private interests. It's time to think about the interest of this region because this is part of our common interest, the stability and the security of the world.

I think that what is stronger than anything are the facts. We have to face the challenge, gauge its size, how much are we going to need to reconstruct Iraq. This is not a dilemma of any country, not one country, not five countries not ten countries. You need the legitimacy of the international community, you need the support of the whole international community, you will need the support of the European Union and the European Union has been very clear on this. We need to have a legitimate process, which can only be given by the UN. So I think we should be pragmatic, we should be open, we are discussing these matters with our American friends, with the British, with all the parties of the world. I think we have a very clear and common view with our British friends because we share the concern that of course everything should be done with the international community, and besides this we should not forget that the key fact is the support of the regional actors, the countries in the region. They are the first concerned, they should support this process. Their voice is very important and that's why I came today to this region to discuss things with my friend Ahmed Maher to meet with President Mubarak. Tomorrow I'll be in Syria, in Lebanon and in Saudi Arabia. I'll come back very soon to be in other countries, in Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, I think it's important. We should also of course think of all the neighbouring countries and I will go very soon to Iran and Turkey to discuss all these matters. But we need a global support, a regional support and international support.

The page had been turned with the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. But if you see the situation in Iraq, order and security are not satisfactory throughout the land. The forces on the ground have a responsibility. The forces on the ground have an essential responsibility to make sure that the security is going to be assured everywhere. When the time comes, after this period of making the country safe and secure, we will all work for the reconstruction. I think the challenge today, the first challenge is the humanitarian challenge. We want this challenge to be met by the UN. The second challenge is security, and the forces on the ground have a special responsibility in this, and then the time of the reconstruction, the political, economic and social reconstruction is going to be the main factor, and we are all going to support it./.