French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin also proposed in Cairo five steps for reaching a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

"The inspectors must be able to return" to Iraq, which they left in March prior to the US-led invasion, and "sanctions must be lifted as quickly as possible," de Villepin said after a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Iraq was hit with international sanctions after toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990.

Those sanctions have been blamed for hurting the Iraqi population more than Saddam's regime, which found ways of thwarting many of them.

UN inspectors had sought alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction since November but found none before they were pulled out as coalition troops prepared to move in.

The French foreign minister had earlier Saturday stressed that coalition forces in Iraq now had a responsibility to ensure law and order.

"The coalition forces have a specific responsibility" for ensuring security, de Villepin told reporters.

"It is important that everything be done on the ground to ensure the population's security," the minister added, referring to looting and vengeance attacks being reported in major Iraqi cities.

De Villepin is in Egypt on the first leg of a Middle East tour that is to include Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

He enjoys wide popularity here for his strong anti-war stance in the UN Security Council during the seven-month diplomatic tussle that preceded the US-led invasion of Iraq on March 20.

On Saturday he urged guests at an institute of international studies and Arab populations in general to "keep the faith," vowing the international community was "more than ever ready to mobilize" in support of peace.

"I know how great is the feeling of pain and injustice felt today by the Arab world," de Villepin said.

He outlined five steps to peace between Israel and the Palestinians, inspired in large part by the so-called roadmap drawn up by the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States.

First, the blueprint must be published and enacted without delay, followed by a truce between the two sides which France was prepared to help enforce on the ground along with other partners.

A referendum could extend that truce, assuming Israelis and Palestinians "reaffirmed the choice of peace".

Palestinian public services would take more responsibility for daily operations in the third step, assisted if needed by the international community.

De Villepin proposed that an international presence on the ground be considered "in accord with the parties".

The fourth step would be a conference which France was prepared to host to conclude a "peace of the brave".

Finally, the proclamation of a Palestinian state would constitute the last part of the peace process.

All Arab countries would have to accept Israel, while Israelis would have to "accept the other, in spite of the dramas," de Villepin said in a reference to ongoing violence in Israel and the occupied territories.

SPACE.WIRE