"France wants Iraq's disarmament to be completed and certified, in order to strengthen regional security and stability," spokesman Francois Rivasseau told reporters in Paris.

Paris supports the return of United Nations weapons inspectors and nuclear experts to Iraq, where they would cooperate with the US-British coalition to ensure that Iraq is weapons-free, Rivasseau said.

He said the inspectors should "provide confirmation of the disarmament and implement a long-term monitoring system adapted to the new situation in Iraq".

Rivasseau called for the UN Security Council to "reevaluate without delay the mandate of both organisations" to provide for their return to Iraq.

A team of scientists from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Baghdad on Friday for the first time since the war to oust Saddam Hussein on a two-week mission to inspect Iraq's largest nuclear facility.

But Washington has stressed their limited mission will not lead to a return of UN inspectors to hunt for weapons of mass destruction, which have not been found in Iraq two months after Saddam was toppled.

Controversy has been raging over whether the United States and Britain fudged what they said was the main reason for the war, or oversold intelligence data to stoke popular support for the invasion.

Chief UN arms inspector Hans Blix on Thursday cast doubt on the credibility of the US-British experts searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

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