Such a tax, being pushed by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, "would not be at all unjustified," Chirac told a press conference on the first day of the Group of Eight summit in the French resort town of Evian.

Lula, invited to an "enlarged dialogue" Sunday of G8 leaders with their counterparts from developing countries, said he wanted revenues from the arms trade tax to go towards a fund to feed the starving and remedy the structural causes of hunger.

Chirac said that as there was a sizeable trade in small arms that "indisputably feeds everyone's fears", a tax on the weapons trade was an idea that should be closely considered.

"Lula's idea is a simple one. People must be able to eat three times a day, and that is not the case today. This unacceptable situation must be debated," the French leader told reporters.

The Brazilian president also suggested that rich creditor nations could invest a percentage of the debt payments they receive into a global fund on hunger.

WAR.WIRE