LONDON (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac began a two-day visit to London for an annual Anglo-French summit, with Iraq still a sore point in relations between the two European powers.
Chirac will also attend festive events to mark the end of centenary celebrations of the Entente Cordiale, the act of friendship that sealed the alliance between Britain and France through two world wars.
But the visit was to be dominated by talks between the French leader and British Prime Minister Tony Blair that will also cover the Middle East, the European Union and other issues.
Chirac flew into London in mid-morning, then travelled by limousine to the Foreign Office where he was greeted by the prime minister and Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II.
There they stood at attention as a military band played the French and British national anthems, before Chirac inspected a joint French and British guard of honour.
Blair, 51, was then to host Chirac, 72, for talks next-door at Downing Street, the prime minister's official residence.
On the eve of his visit, Chirac, who led European opposition to the US-led invasion in March 2003, said he was "not at all sure" that the world had become safer since the downfall of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
In a BBC television interview, Chirac suggested that the situation in Iraq -- where US forces are still locked in battle with insurgents -- has helped to prompt an increase in terrorism.
"To a certain extent Saddam Hussein's departure was a positive thing," said Chirac when asked if the world was now a safer place, as US President George W. Bush has repeatedly stated.
"But it also provoked reactions, such as the mobilisation in a number of countries, of men and women of Islam, which has made the world more dangerous," he said.
"There's no doubt that there has been an increase in terrorism and one of the origins of that has been the situation in Iraq. I am not at all sure that one can say that the world is safer."
Blair has been US President George W. Bush's staunchest ally on Iraq.
Besides Iraq and the Middle East, the summit -- which precedes Britain's turn at the helm of the Group of Eight and, in the second half of 2005, the European Union -- will touch upon Africa, climate change, and other concerns.
Blair has declared that he considers a renewed quest for peace between Israel and the Palestinians as a personal priority -- a message he took to Washington a week ago when he saw Bush after the US elections.
Chirac, who last visited London a year ago, arrived in the British capital with no less than six ministers and 40 French members of parliament in tow, including his foreign minister Michel Barnier and defence minister Michele Alliot-Marie.
Later in the day he was to give an address in the City financial district on French foreign policy, before spending Thursday night at Windsor Castle, west of London, at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II.
The queen made a state visit to France in April to celebrate the centenary of the Entente Cordiale.
They will dine together before attending a performance of the musical "Les Miserables" in the Waterloo Chamber -- an immense room dedicated to the British defeat of Napoleon in 1815 -- renamed the "Music Room" for the occasion.
On Friday the French president will travel to Oxford, northwest of London, to meet students at its famous university.
11/18/2004 - 12:40 GMT - AFP