French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said in Paris Thursday that his country would offer assistance to Iraq's reconstruction once sovereignty was returned to an Iraqi government.  

In an interview with French Europe 1 radio, Villepin said France was willing to do it "in response to an Iraqi government", adding that a widely representative government should be established by the end of this year.

He believed it was "much too late" to have a government in Iraq by summer 2004.

"How many deaths must we count before we realize we must change approach?" he asked, emphasizing France's position that a handover of sovereignty to the Iraqis would help lessen the tensions in the country.

France, along with Germany and Russia, opposed the US-led military actions in Iraq and did not offer any help to Iraq's rebuilding at a recent international donors conference.

(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2003)