The statement, issued hours before the formal end of the Summit held in the gambling city of Evian, on the French shore of Lake Leman, said the G-8 considers the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and their delivery means, along with terrorism, as "the pre-eminent threat to international security".

Observers at the meeting told Iran Press Service that in his 30 minutes morning meeting with his American counterpart, the first tête-à-tête between the two leaders since the Iraqi conflict, over which the two allies reached the brink of diplomatic catastrophe, President Jacques Chirac reached " substantial agreement" with George W. Bush and conveyed their mutual concern over Iran’s nuclear programs to Vladimir Putin.

There was no immediate reaction from Iran to the G-8, but the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi had earlier reiterated that Iran said clearly that it wants nuclear know-how for peaceful objectives and renewed Tehran's preconditions for joining the Additional Protocol of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by asking western companies to lift their sanctions against the country's nuclear programs.

"The Additional Protocol, which Iran has signed, is a separate issue. It must be confirmed first how the sanctions have affected us while we are a member of the NPT. They (western countries) must help us achieve the nuclear know-how instead of putting restrictions", Asefi told newsmen during a press briefing.

Leaders of the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia said the world community had to use arms inspections, export controls "and if necessary other measures in accordance with international law" to tackle the threat, the declaration said in an oblique reference to the possible use of force.

America is also accusing the Islamic Republic of backing international terrorism, including the al-Qa’eda, undermining Middle East peace efforts and interfering in Iraq.

On al-Qa’eda, Iran at first had rejected American intelligence reports about the presence in that country of some high-ranking members of the Organisation, like Seyfol Adel, considered as one of the men who might have prepared the 12 May explosions in the Saudi Capital of Riyadh, but made a U-turn by admitting that it had arrested 500 al-Qa’eda people, without indicating when, where and under which circumstances the men had been detained and what is their status now.

Describing terrorism and arms proliferation as the twin evils of the modern era, the G-8 pointed to last month's deadly bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco as proof of the threat and noted that "the remnants of al-Qa’eda are scattered all over the world and still maintain a global network."

Iran is probably one of the very few topics on which all major European powers, including Britain, Washington’s main ally, differs with the United States, as the latter is favouring a hard stance against Tehran theocrats while the formers prefer maintaining a so-called "critical dialogue".

The group of Eight issued its cautious warning to the Islamic Republic as the European Union was holding its fourth round of discussions with Tehran over the signing of a crucial Trade and Cooperation Agreement, an agreement that the EU says is directly connected with political engagements to be taken by Iran, including its renunciation of acquiring weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorist organisations, in particular Palestinians and Arabs opposed to the Middle East Peace Process.

Elsewhere, the G-8 said it would create its own Counter-Terrorism Action Group to offer aid to countries to prevent them becoming safe havens for terrorists and to boost their security arrangements.

The G-8, which includes the world's main manufacturers of shoulder-fired missiles, urged all nations to do more to ensure terrorists could not get hold of portable anti-aircraft weapons and pledged still tighter export controls to ensure WMD technology was not passed on irresponsibly.

"For the peace and security of the world, it is essential for all countries, including developing countries, to enhance such capability", the communiqué said, adding that the signatories had also agreed on a plan to keep radioactive material from falling into the hands of terrorists by exercising tighter monitoring of the location of such materials and confining export to states "that have effective controls".

Since last year's G8 summit in Canada, "events in the world have underscored the relevance of those principles and the urgency of implementing them", the statement said.

As President Bush was leaving Evian for the Middle East, the last and most important leg of his present trip, starting on the Egyptian tourist resort of Sharm al-Sheykh, on the Red Sea, before meeting Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers in the Jordanian port of Aqaba that faces Israeli tourist resort of Eilat, observers said though France and the US were able to "sweep under the carpet" their differences over the Iraqi conflict, but more fundamental divergences remained "intact", particularly the two sides conflicting visions of the world.

In a clear sign of reconciliation between the former anti and pro Iraqi war, namely France, Germany and Russia in one side, the United States, Britain and Spain on the other, the communiqué made no reference to the U.S.-led war in Iraq, launched on the premise that Iraq possessed yet-to-be-discovered banned arms but which half of the G-8 countries opposed.

"By inviting 20 leaders of developing and emerging nations such as Brazil, India, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt or Senegal to a parallel Summit, an initiative that obviously did not pleased the Americans, France reiterated its vision of a multipolar world against one dominated by the US hyper-power", observed one analyst. ENDS IRAN G-EIGHT 2603