France offers to help Iraqi troops, police

France said yesterday it may be prepared to provide assistance to Iraqi troops and police, a further sign of a thaw in relations with the US after its foreign minister visited Baghdad this week.

Bernard Kouchner's three-day trip to Baghdad was seen as part of President Nicolas Sarkozy's effort to improve relations with Washington after a bitter fallout over the US-led invasion under previous president, Jacques Chirac.

"Our intention is not to send French soldiers to Iraq. But we can perhaps see what we can do in terms of assistance to the police or the authorities that are in charge of providing security in Iraq," French Foreign Ministry Spokesman Denis Simonneau said.

Mr Kouchner described the conditions in which Iraqi police work, saying that there was one pistol for five police officers.

Under Mr Chirac, France was one of the staunchest opponents of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, prompting a sharp deterioration in relations between Paris and Washington.