Cairo: France on April 12 called for the return of United Nations weapons inspectors
to Iraq and for sanctions against the country to be lifted as soon as possible.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin also proposed in Cairo five steps for
reaching a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
"The inspectors must be able to return" to Iraq, which they left in March prior to
the US-led invasion, and "sanctions must be lifted as quickly as possible", de
Villepin said after a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Iraq was hit with international sanctions after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
invaded Kuwait in 1990.
Those sanctions have been blamed for hurting the Iraqi population more than Saddam's
regime, which found ways of thwarting many of them.
The French Foreign Minister had earlier on April 12 stressed that coalition forces
in Iraq now had a responsibility to ensure law and order.
"The coalition forces have a specific responsibility" for ensuring security, de
Villepin told reporters.
"It is important that everything be done on the ground to ensure the population's
security," the minister added, referring to looting and vengeance attacks being
reported in major Iraqi cities.
