The Americans “committed mistakes such as dissolving the army and leaving the borders open,” Ibrahim Al-Jaafari also said in the interview with Spanish daily El Pais.   Jaafari, a leader of moderate Shiite party Al-Dawa, was conciliatory toward France in his remarks. He acknowledged the French government’s opposition to the US invasion of Iraq, but hoped “to open a new chapter and to mutually reap political and economic benefits.”   

Iraqi President Ghawi al-Yaour postponed last week a trip to France set for September 6-7 – part of a European diplomatic tour – after two French journalists were taken hostage in Iraq.   

Al-Yaour arrived on Thursday in Germany where he will hold talks with his German counterpart Horst Koehler and meet Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and at least two cabinet ministers.