French President Jacques Chirac has hailed the fall of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq and said he hoped the fighting in the country would end soon.
"France, like all democracies, is delighted at the fall of the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and hopes for a quick and effective end to the fighting," Chirac's office said in a statement.
"It is now necessary to create the conditions which will give the Iraqi people its dignity in re-discovered freedom.
"What is urgent is to allow humanitarian aid in all its forms to be sent to Iraq without delay. As soon as possible, after the necessary phase of ensuring security, Iraq must re-discover - via the legitimacy granted by the United Nations - its full sovereignty in a stabilised region," it said.
France led the group of nations opposed to the US-led invasion of Iraq and was criticised subsequently for not stating unequivocally that it wanted an allied victory. It is now pressing for a central role for the UN in post-war reconstruction.
Last night Mr Chirac spoke to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who shares his enthusiasm for UN involvement despite the misgivings of many in the US administration.
Mr Chirac travels to Saint Petersberg tomorrow for talks with Russian President Vladmir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Russia and Germany formed a bloc with France to oppose the war at the UN.
"With the fall of the regime of Saddam Hussein, it is a dark page that is turned and we are delighted," said French foreign minister and close ally Dominique de Villepin at a meeting of EU and Arab ministers in southern France.
AFP