US President George W Bush discussed strengthening co-operation over Iran and Afghanistan in talks with France's Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday.

Mr Bush is in Paris on the latest leg of his European tour, expected to be his last before leaving office.

The visit is seen as a sign of further reconciliation between the US and France, after tensions over Iraq.

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The BBC's Hugh Schofield, in Paris, says President Bush is certainly not a popular figure among the French, but on this occasion his visit is taking place in an atmosphere of public near-indifference.

The inevitable protests against his presence have been half-hearted, in acknowledgement that the president's time in the White House is running out, our correspondent says.

Since taking office a year ago, Nicolas Sarkozy has made great efforts to build relations with Washington, which went into deep-freeze under his predecessor Jacques Chirac.

Mr Bush arrived in Paris from Rome, where he had been afforded a special audience with Pope Benedict XVI.

(BBC)

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