"The comments by British Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt, as they were reported in the press, are unacceptable," foreign ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau told reporters.

"As these comments seem to run contrary to the general political line of the government, we have been led to ask for an explanation," the spokesman added.

When asked about possible roles for France and Russia in postwar Iraq, Hewitt told the BBC World Service: "That will clearly have to be discussed both within the United Nations, as the role of the UN is made clear, and by the interim administration and then subsequently by the new Iraqi administration."

She added: "I must say if I were an Iraqi minister in the new Iraqi government, I think I would personally take a poor view of companies that have been breaking UN sanctions and supporting Saddam's vile regime.

"But that is a matter for the Iraqi people to judge and a matter, also in this interim period, for discussion with the UN," Hewitt added.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin is due to meet his British counterpart Jack Straw in Paris early Wednesday, a meeting scheduled some time ago.

Sanctions were imposed on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990. They were partially lifted with the setting up of the oil-for-food program, but a ban on arms imports continued.

SPACE.WIRE