BERLIN, 19 September 2003 — France signaled yesterday it will help Germany train a new Iraqi police force as both countries renewed their pressure for quickly handing over the country’s government to the Iraqis.

French President Jacques Chirac, speaking after talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, emphasized he would like to see the transfer of power in postwar Iraq as soon as possible — “in a matter of months, not years.”

“That is our common assessment,” Chirac told reporters after a German-French summit at the chancellery in Berlin.

France has demanded a quick timetable on transferring power as a condition for accepting a US-proposed resolution on Iraq at the United Nations. On Friday, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin called for the provisional government in a month, a draft constitution by year’s end and elections next spring.

Chirac’s remarks about “months” did not signal a change of position, said a French presidential spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The US draft resolution seeks more money and peacekeeping troops for Iraq — but debate over it has focused more on the future UN role in Iraq and restoring the country’s sovereignty. Russia and China also want a quick restoration of Iraq’s sovereignty, though perhaps not as fast as the French proposal.

Chirac also endorsed an offer by Schroeder to help train new Iraqi police leaders in Germany, which Schroeder renewed at yesterday’s news conference.

“It is self-evident that if the chancellor reaffirms this position here, France will take the same position,” Chirac said, though he appeared to stop short of an explicit offer of help.

However, the French presidential spokesman said Chirac was indeed offering to train Iraqi police.

Germany and France, the two key continental European powers, strongly opposed the US-led war in Iraq, which divided Europe.

On Saturday, Chirac and Schroeder meet pro-war British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Berlin in effort to seek a common stand.

But shades of differences emerged yesterday even between France and Germany, despite their common goal of a greater UN role and an early handover of power from the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.

Schroeder, in a newspaper interview, said Germany was ready to train Iraqi police even without a new UN resolution. A French delegation source, speaking on condition of anonymity, made plain that Paris would wait for a resolution.

Schroeder called for a “road map” for handing over authority to an Iraqi government.

“However, no one can really say at this time whether elections can be held in Iraq in 2004,” Schroeder added in the Handelsblatt business daily. “The priority now is just to get the process going.”

The United States has said it supports the return to sovereignty in Iraq but has resisted being tied to a timetable.

Schroeder’s overtures came before a possible meeting with US President George W. Bush next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The two leaders fell out last year after Schroeder won re-election on an anti-war platform.

In Washington, a senior US official said of the German offer of help: “The more, the better.”

Chirac and Schroeder also unveiled a 10-point plan to increase spending on research and development and infrastructure in a bid to boost Europe’s lagging economy and create jobs.

The projects involve telecommunications, extending high-speed rail networks across national borders and a European satellite system.

However, neither leader gave details on how the program would be financed.

“The most important result of this meeting is our shared conviction that Europe cannot wait for growth, but must seek it out,” Chirac said.

Schroeder insisted that European governments are allowed leeway under European Union budget rules designed to limit deficits to 3 percent of gross national product. Both France and Germany are currently above the limit.

“We are currently in a phase where the elements of growth must be emphasized,” Schroeder said.