Jacques Chirac, France's president, yesterday held talks in Paris with his Iraqi counterpart, Ghazi Yawar, in a fresh bid to engage with Iraq's postwar leadership and rebuild French influence and commercial ties in the region.

At a lunch at the Elysée palace, Mr Chirac offered his support for Iraqi's democratisation efforts and renewed his offer to help train the Iraqi police outside the country. However, French officials reiterated that there was no possibility of sending troops to Iraq.