PARIS: At least 77 per cent of the French populace is opposed to an invasion of Iraq, according to a poll done for French public TV and daily Le Figaro.

Moreover, says an Institut Ipsos spokesman, “opposition to the war cuts across the political spectrum, with 84 percent of those claiming to be of the political Left saying they’re against, while 78 percent who identify themselves with the Right saying they’re opposed too”.

Paradoxically, the only political party which shows a higher pro-war score, the extremist National Front, with 27 percent of its respondents saying they are for a war, is led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, a man who considers himself a personal friend of President Saddam Hussein.

Still, in spite of such a large gap between pro and anti-war opinion in France, the precedent of the 1991 war shows that the French are nevertheless capable of an immediate opinion change.

Although on Jan 8, 1991, 79 per cent of the French polled indicated they were opposed to the war, ten days later, once war had been declared, the percentage immediately reversed, with 67 percent approving the war effort.