PARIS: French President Jacques Chirac certainly enjoyed his role as champion of peace in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, despite the drubbing he took in the American and British media.

Millions of anti-war protesters around the world chanted his name, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika suggested him for the Nobel Peace Prize and his popularity at home reached unprecedented heights.

But now that the war has ended with a stunning victory by the US-led coalition, Chirac, like Cinderella after the ball, is confronted with harsh reality.

So it was no doubt with a heavy heart that the French president picked up the phone on Tuesday to call the White House and talk to President Bush.

Chirac’s spokeswoman, Catherine Colonna, later said that, during the 20-minute conversation, Chirac had told Bush that France would take a “pragmatic approach” on post-war issues in Iraq.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the talks between the two presidents, the first since Feb 7, had been “business-like”.

Both descriptions are correct, because Chirac must now very pragmatically attempt to limit the damage his idealistic anti-war stance could still wreak on France’s already stagnating economy.—dpa