France's Sarkozy in Iraq to rebuild ties

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday, on a historic surprise visit aimed at restoring ties with Iraq and ending U.S.-French animosity over the 2003 invasion that Paris strongly opposed.

France deeply opposed the American invasion almost six years ago which ousted Saddam, a policy decision that left it at odds with the administration of former U.S. president George W. Bush.

"I came to express the solidarity of France," Sarkozy told reporters at a joint news conference with his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani, shortly after receiving a red carpet welcome in Baghdad.

Sarkozy is on a regional tour that will also take him to Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, where he is due later on Tuesday.

On the first visit by a French head of state since the U.S.-led war plunged Iraq into years of sectarian violence and insurgency, Sarkozy met Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and was due to hold talks with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

I came to express the solidarity of France

French President Nicolas Sarkozy

Time for investment

Violence has dropped in Iraq in the past few months and U.S. troops are preparing to pull out of cities and withdraw completely by the end of 2011. In the last two weeks Iraq held the most peaceful elections since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Iraqi officials believe the time has come for foreign companies to invest, especially in their oil fields which hold the world's third largest proven crude reserves. French oil major Total SA is among firms qualified to bid for long-term development Iraqi oil contracts.

Sarkozy’s trip to the Gulf is intended to reinforce French influence, and although he is expected to sign agreements during the trip "he is not there to announce large contracts," the Elysee palace in Paris said on Monday.

"Security is improving despite the lingering problems. The situation is not perfect, but a few months ago who was betting that I was going to visit Iraq and its leaders?" Sarkozy said during a joint news conference with Talabani.

Sarkozy praised Iraq for regaining its sovereignty with a security pact with the United States that sets a final withdrawal date and also for voting enthusiastically and for a wide variety of parties in the Jan. 31 provincial polls.

France enjoyed relatively close relations with Iraq under Saddam, and former French President Jacques Chirac led international opposition to the 2003 invasion.

Sarkozy has sought warmer relations with Washington since his election in 2007.

Security is improving despite the lingering problems. The situation is not perfect, but a few months ago who was betting that I was going to visit Iraq and its leaders?

French President Nicolas Sarkozy

A new tone

The inauguration in January of President Barack Obama has also ushered in a new tone in international relations and other European countries that opposed the war, such as Germany, are expected to send high-level delegations to Iraq soon.

Obama pledged during the U.S. election campaign to pull out of Iraq within 16 months, faster than foreseen in the bilateral security pact signed by his predecessor, which calls for the last U.S. soldier to leave by the end of 2011.

U.S. military commanders favor a slower pullout that would not put at risk Iraq's recent security gains.

The violence that took Iraq to the brink of all-out civil war has fallen sharply, and the Jan. 31 provincial polls took place without a single major attack being recorded anywhere.

Yet suicide and car bomb attacks remain common and Sarkozy's visit, part of a Middle Eastern tour, was shrouded in secrecy.

The last high-level visit by a French official occurred in May 2008 when Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who accompanied Sarkozy on Tuesday, spent a few days in the country, in a sign of what Paris said then was a renewed commitment to Iraq.