PARIS, March 3: French parliamentarian Didier Julia, a member of the country’s ruling UMP (Union pour une majorite populaire) political party — and a close ally of President Jacques Chirac — is in Baghdad waiting for a meeting with President Saddam Hussein.

Mr Julia was largely responsible for the return last autumn of UN inspectors to Iraq, as an outcome of a trip he undertook in September, a quasi-official visit done in the company of two other high-ranking UMP parliamentarians.

That visit, when Mr Julia was accompanied by two other deputies belonging to Mr Chirac’s political party had proved controversial, although it was subsequently learnt that Mr Julia had President Chirac’s support for his presence in Iraq. The deputies were able to visit Osirak nuclear reactor, the site of two attacks (1981 and 1991) by Israel.