French FM says security improving in Iraq

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French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Sunday that the security situation in Iraq was improving and reaffirmed France's willingness to help rebuild the war-ravaged country.

"I have the feeling that things are better. Statistics show a drop in security incidents," Kouchner told AFP after a working lunch with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari on the last day of his two-day visit to Iraq.

There is "an improvement in the situation in Iraq," he said.

Kouchner also voiced satisfaction at efforts by the Iraqis to take charge of their own country, saying they were making "progress."

"The Iraqis themselves, with their army, their administration, are taking charge of their own problems," Kouchner said.

He then went to Arbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, to open a French representative office before wrapping up his visit.

Kouchner arrived from neighbouring Jordan on Saturday on an unannounced trip which he said was aimed at underlining Paris's "renewed political commitment" to Iraq.