He emphasized that France is not in "the camp of the dictators", following a row last week when some British media interpreted the refusal by French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin to say that he wanted the United States and Britain to win in Iraq as siding with Baghdad.

"There is no hesitation on the part of France. We are not part of the camp of dictators," said Raffarin, speaking in a joint interview with television station France 3 and France Info Radio.

France, along with Germany and Russia, led the diplomatic effort to prevent the US and British military invasion that began on March 20 to disarm Iraq of its alleged weapons of mass destruction.

"We are not in solidarity with dictators but we can tell them, because we are allies, that they've made a mistake," said Raffarin, deploring the war as "full of horrors" and "extremely violent."

"First, I think it is a real moral error. There were other alternatives to war. Iraq could have been disarmed in other ways," said the prime minister.

He said it was a political mistate because the war threatened to intensify the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which could easily destabilize the entire Middle East.

"It is a grave political error to throw trouble into the area," said Raffarin.

He said the attack was a strategic error as it exemplified US unilateralism, expressing his belief that a balance can only be reached in a multipolar world.

Raffarin said there were currently no "specific threats" of terrorism in France.

"There are foreign interests in France which could become a threat," he added, "but our vigilence is complete and total.

SPACE.WIRE