Charles Bremner, left, in Paris, explains how the French are presenting the fall of Baghdad and Paris's position on the postwar rebuilding of Iraq.

How are the French media and politicians presenting the fall of Baghdad?

There is a certain amount of disappointment that the Americans have done it relatively easily. Nobody will say it in public, but they would have preferred the troops to get more bogged down. The consensus is that it is like when Napoleon conquered Moscow - he found that he had not won the war and it set the scene for his defeat.

One could say that the coalition victory doesn't represent a defeat for France in any way. But the speed of the victory has weakened President Jacques Chirac's political position in the world.

The French media have not highlighted the cheering crowds nearly as much as the British and American media. They have led on Iraqis cursing the foreign forces coming in – they are not depicting it as any popular celebration. They are using language such as 'invasion' and 'military occupation' and saying that Iraqis are coming face to face with their new masters.

As with all the non-coalition media, there is lengthy coverage of civilian casualties and overrun hospitals. The French have covered it rather like The Independent or The Guardian.

Why were France and Britain being so conciliatory today?

Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, and Dominique de Villepin, his French counterpart, today stressed their agreement over the need for urgent international involvement in rebuilding Iraq.

But this is not by any means a U-turn, as M Chirac's policy since the war started was to be conciliatory in language while maintaining a position of opposition. But it is significant in its timing.

It is in France and Britain's interest to play down their differences at the moment. France wants to have a role through the United Nations (UN) in the reconstruction and administration of Iraq and the commercial contracts that go with it. Britain wants to end its isolation as it has acted against the great mass of European public opinion.

France feels that it has made considerable international capital by championing the voice of the rest of the world, but it is obviously worried that its opposition to the United States has put it in the deep freeze as far as Washington is concerned.

There's no question that M Chirac's position has deeply annoyed America and Washington is in no mood to let France off the hook for a long while.

What are French politicians and media saying about plans for postwar Iraq?

The French are insisting that the UN plays the major role – but the reality is that they know this is not going to happen. They are going to try to win the biggest possible role for the UN, as France's power is greater within the Security Council.

M Chirac is going to St Petersburg on Friday to meet President Vladimir Putin and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to co-ordinate the position of the European anti-war camp.

They have a few levers such as the French and Russian vetoes on the Security Council. America needs the council for the next few steps to be taken in Iraq – for example to lift the UN embargoes on trade with Iraq and to release the Iraqi trade bank accounts.

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