PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac said on Tuesday the United Nations alone should take charge of the economic and political reconstruction of Iraq after the US-led war there.

"We are no longer in an era where one or two countries can control the fate of another country," Chirac told a news conference after a meeting with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers.

"Therefore, the political, economic, humanitarian and administrative reconstruction of Iraq is a matter for the United Nations and for it alone."

France led diplomatic opposition to the war and prevented the United States getting UN backing for its military campaign. Many French commentators fear the United States will dominate the rebuilding process after the end of fighting in Iraq.

Chirac said, however, that he understood US President George W. Bush believed the role of the United Nations would be vital in the aftermath of the war.

"I completely share this sentiment. Next we have to see how things fall into place," Chirac added.

Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in Northern Ireland on Tuesday they saw a "vital role" for the United Nations in the reconstruction of Iraq, but did not spell out what its tasks might include.

After a meeting of the two, who have been leading the war in Iraq, Bush mentioned only humanitarian work, "suggesting" people to staff an interim Iraqi authority and helping Iraq "progress".

Chirac said he would head to Russia's second city of St Petersburg for talks with leaders of two other countries opposed to the war - Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

France, Germany and Russia formed the backbone of opposition to the US military campaign, calling instead for diplomatic efforts through the United Nations to ensure Iraq was free of banned weapons of mass destruction.

(Agencies via Xinhua)