Addressing a gathering of international jurists on the second day of a "peace camp" summit in Russia's second city of Saint Petersburg, Chirac said that despite the divisions over Iraq, the international community could still "reunite around the common values that form the basis of the United Nations."

Chirac held talks with host President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Friday at which the three leaders insisted on the centrality of the United Nations in lending legitimacy to the reconstruction of Iraq after the US-led invasion that led to the collapse of the regime in Baghdad.

"With the victory of our common values we can hope for and invent a world in which, in line with the principles of collective responsibility and solidarity, states freely accept that the use of force should be subject to law," Chirac told the gathering at which Putin and Schroeder were also present.

"The respect for law is the real strength of democracies," he said.

Implicitly criticising the US-British decision to go to war against Iraq without the backing of the United Nations, Chirac said that "force cannot be used unless it is authorised by the international community. That is the basis of the United Nations Charter."

The French leader acknowledged that "the Iraq crisis has divided the international community" but said he was convinced unity could be recovered.

"Tomorrow, once security has been restored, the United Nations must play a central role to ensure the return of Iraq's sovereignty and to restore the dignity of the Iraqi people in their newfound freedom.

"That is the vocation and the mission of the United Nations which embodies law in the service of peoples and the respect for their diversity," he said.

"The immediate priority is to deal with the emergency (in Iraq) and meet as rapidly as possible the humanitarian needs of the population," Chirac noted.

"Our countries, within the framework of the United Nations, are prepared to assume their responsibilities to permit the reconstruction of Iraq and its democratisation," he said, adding that the world body had the necessary means and experience to carry out the huge task involved.

Beyond the situation in Iraq, he said, "what is at stake is our ability to give solid foundations to a new world order."

Chirac was due later to return to Paris.

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