French PM Villepin says Iraq mired in civil war

LILLE, France, Nov 15 (Reuters) Iraq has been plunged into civil war and the US-led invasion added to instability there, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said today in an attack on Washington's policy in the Middle East.

Villepin, who shot to international fame as foreign minister for voicing France's opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, said the U.S. military operation could not have succeeded.

''The American intervention in Iraq was doomed to failure. It increased fear, divisions, instability and hostility to the West,'' Villepin said in a speech at a university in the northern city of Lille.

Washington has denied that Iraq is mired in a civil war, though the country is racked by sectarian violence.

''Iraq has been plunged into civil war and chaos,'' Villepin said, adding: ''The virtuous circle the United States wanted has turned out, on the contrary, to be a vicious circle.'' France has improved ties with Washington since their public spat over Iraq, but Villepin said the Iraq war had been a setback for western policy in the Middle East.

''It has complicated the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian problem and it has also divided Europe, which has still not recovered its political unity,'' he said.

''This crisis has weakened the multilateral authorities and made the international community's actions more difficult in the face of great proliferation crises such as Iran and North Korea,'' Villepin added.

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