When asked "under what conditions will France send soldiers to Iraq," de Villepin answered, "It will be OK (for France) when the political transition in Iraq is placed under the responsibility of the United Nations."

"Any participation will be eventually envisioned only within the framework of a peace force of the United Nations, based on a detailed mandate of the UN Security Council and therefore enjoying the support of the entirety of the international community," he said.

United States Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday said he was in favor of sending French and German troops to Iraq to help in the country's reconstruction phase.

"Our goal is to get a large number of international forces from a lot of countries, including those two," said Rumsfeld, speaking at the Senate Armed Services committee when answering a question by Senator Carl Levin asking directly about the involvement of French and German forces.

"We have made requests to something like 70, 80 or 90 countries," Rumsfeld told Levin.

On Tuesday, a French Foreign Ministry spokesman said the question of France sending troops into Iraq was not of actuality when commenting on remarks by US ambassador to France Howard Leach.

"France has not received any demand in this direction. This question is not of actuality," the spokesman told a press conference.

In a recent interview published in the Marseilles-based French daily newspaper La Provence, Leach said Washington wants to see an international presence for peace-keeping in Iraq.

"The final decision concerning the role of the United Nations has not been taken, but we do not exclude a French presence in Baghdad," Leach told the paper, without elaborating.

Paris had led the opposition to the Washington-led war on Iraq, enraging the Americans and triggering a major crisis in trans-Atlantic relations.

Leach's comments came as US troops in Iraq were under pressure after being stricken in recent weeks by a series of fatal attacks by armed militants still loyal to toppled president Saddam Hussein.

At least 29 US troops have been killed in Iraq since the US-led military operations ended in early May.

(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2003)