"There was never any tension between the French and American military," he told the latest issue of the Paris newspaper Journal du Dimanche, released in advance.

"Our relations remain excellent," he said: "Of course it would be easier for us if our ties were completely renormalised."

French and US diplomatic relations came under severe strain because France strongly opposed the war against Iraq.

But Bentegeat insisted: "In military terms we have no difficulty."

He recalled that France had made it a condition that political managament of post-war Iraq should be under United Nations control before it was willing to deploy forces in Iraq.

"I expect the head of state (President Jacques Chirac) to task me with preparing a study for possible deployment in Iraq. But this is not on the agenda at the moment," he said.

During a visit to Paris on May 22, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States was curtailing military ties with France despite some improvement in relations badly damaged by the rift over the Iraq war.

At the same time, Powell maintained that the current difficulties would be overcome and noted French support for a UN resolution that lifted sanctions on Iraq.

Although Powell lauded France's vote in favor of the resolution, he said the past could not be forgotten. The US military was taking steps against Paris in light of "the current environment."

Among those measures were leaving France out of an annual military exercise in Nevada known as "Red Flag," scaling down the US presence at the Paris Air Show and cutting back on military-to-military exchange programmes, he said.

"The Pentagon is taking some other steps as well that change the nature of their relationship with the French military," Powell said.

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