French FM pledges to help stabilize Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Monday that his country is ready to help stabilize Iraq.

    "France is ready to play a role in the fighting against the violence," Kouchner said during a news conference after talks with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in Baghdad.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner (L) gestures next to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in Baghdad August 20, 2007. (Xinhua/Rueters Photo)
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    "Part of the fight against violence in Iraq lies with the United Nations. France approves this path and we will assist in the direction," he said.

    For his part, Talabani said "this visit is a historic opportunity to promote French-Iraqi relations."

    Late on Sunday night, the French top diplomat held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki who has arrived in Damascus for a visit to Syria on Monday.

    A statement from Maliki's office said the prime minister called on France to support his government to achieve security and stability in Iraq.

    "The government is working hard to establish a state which delivers justice equally to all Iraqis and confronts terrorists and militias regardless of their affiliations," the statement quoted Maliki as saying.

    Maliki agreed with Kouchner that the Iraqi conflict could not be solved militarily and that the government "has been working to invite all sections of Iraqi people to the political process," the statement said.

    Maliki also called on the French companies to take part in rebuilding Iraq, it added.

    Kouchner's visit to Iraq, the first of its kind since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 which France opposed, came eight days after French President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with his American counterpart George W. Bush in the United States.