President Jacques Chirac of France on Sunday called for the immediate transfer of sovereignty in Iraq to the Iraqi people

President Jacques Chirac of France on Sunday called for the immediate transfer of sovereignty in Iraq to the Iraqi people and indicated that France would only approve a new United Nations resolution that recognized this need. In an hour-long interview at the Elysйe Palace, Chirac for the first time laid out a two-stage plan for Iraqi self-rule involving first a symbolic transfer of sovereignty from American hands to the existing 25-member Iraqi Governing Council, followed by the gradual ceding of real power over the next six to nine months. The French president added that if the Security Council, France included, could agree on empowering Iraqis at once, France would be ready to train Iraqi police and soldiers - either in or out of Iraq. And Chirac, who opposed America's war in Iraq, said that although France had no intention of sending troops to participate in the American-led military occupation force, circumstances could change. He called the administration of Iraq, an Arab and Muslim country, by a "governor who is Christian and foreign" dangerous and "a very difficult situation for any people to accept in the 21st century." As for the deployment of French combat troops to Iraq, Chirac said, "We are talking about training, and not sending troops to Iraq, of course."