Chirac telephoned Blair to discuss the situation after President Saddam Hussein's 24-year grip on power in the country drew to an end.

Chirac stressed "that humanitarian aid must be the absolute priority in the current situation," a spokeswoman said. "(He) hopes the necessary security conditions will be established urgently to allow aid to reach the people and the hospitals that need it."

Blair also informed Chirac about his talks with US President George W. Bush in Belfast, spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said.

Asked about Paris' position on the US-led war against Iraq, she said: "France wishes the conflict to end as quickly as possible, as it has consistently said."

The Iraqi regime collapsed on Wednesday as US troops poured into the capital amid jubilant scenes and widespread looting.

Chirac and Blair had also discussed the role of the United Nations, once security had been re-established in the political, administrative and economic reconstructon of Iraq.

Britain and France have been seriously at odds over Iraq, with France, Germany and Russia lined up against the Anglo-American invasion, and Britain Washington's closest ally on the issue.

The exact role of the United Nations in post-war issue threatens to become a new divisive issue.

Blair and Bush pledged on Tuesday that the United Nations would play a "vital role" in the reconstruction of Iraq, while Chirac insisted on a "central role" for the world body in deciding Iraq's future.

A spokesman for Blair said in London Wednesday Blair and Chirac had "agreed on the need for Iraq to be governed by the Iraqi people as soon as possible."

They also agreed that the international community needed to work together to help achieve this:

"The prime minister underlined the vital role for the UN in this process," he said.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and British counterpart Jack Straw met in Paris earlier Wednesday and likewise urged quick action to avert a humanitarian crisis.

They papered over British-French differences and highlighted the strength and history of cross-Channel ties, with de Villepin saying: "That which unites us is stronger than that which divides us."

Straw dismissed reported differences between the two countries' positions on the UN role in Baghdad, telling journalists: "I think it's more or less the same."

The British minister said London and Washington wanted to see a democratic government installed in Iraq as soon as possible, but that it would not happen immediately.

"Both we and the United States obviously wish to see as quickly as possible the creation of a representative democratic Iraqi government, carrying the consent of its people, responsible crucially for its own security," Straw said.

"The government of Iraq... has to be from the people of Iraq and by the people of Iraq, of course with the support of the coalition and with the support of the United Nations and the international community," he added.

"That can't happen overnight," he stressed.

The British minister said the search continued for the weapons of mass destruction that Britain and the United States have accused Iraq of possessing.

SPACE.WIRE