World leaders pledged yesterday to rebuild Iraq and combat the threat of nuclear weapons in Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, closing out an annual economic summit tainted by bitter divisions over the US-led war in Iraq.In a four-page closing statement, thesgroupsof Eight summit countries sought to move past their differences over Iraq by declaring that they were united in the reconstruction effort.

　　The statement said the G-8 leaders "share the conviction that the time has now come to build peace and reconstruct Iraq."

　　"Our shared objective is a fully sovereign, stable and democratic Iraq," the G-8 leaders declared in the final statement, summarized by French President Jacques Chirac, the summit host, at a closing news conference.

　　The G-8 leaders put Iran and the DPRK on notice that they will not stand by and allow them to acquire nuclear weapons, although there were differences between the United States and the other G-8 countries over how far the major powers were willing to go in pressuring Iran.

　　A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States reads the leaders' declaration as implicitly authorizing the use of force against countries that violate international nonproliferation norms.

　　But Chirac bluntly said, "This interpretation seems to be extraordinarily daring."

　　"There never was any talk of using force whatsoever. We have to have a dialogue with Iran," Chirac said at the closing news conference.

　　A senior member of the Russian delegation told reporters yesterday that there was general agreement among the leaders during their discussions that Iran "must remove any doubts of its compliance with the (Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty) by June 16," the next meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors.

　　The G-8 leaders want Iran to sign a protocol allowing inspections of all suspected nuclear sites at any time, said the Russian official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity.

　　The assistance Russia has been giving Iran to construct a nuclear power plant has raised concerns in the Bush administration that Iran is pursuing a secret plan to obtain the ability to make nuclear weapons.

　　On the DPRK, the G-8 closing statement said that the leaders supported the efforts being made by countries in the region, including China, to prod it into complying with its past commitments on nuclear nonproliferation.

　　The statement closely reflected what the Bush administration has sought on both countries. The G-8 leaders continued in the final statement the effort they launched when the summit began to put the bitter divisions over Iraq behind them and show the world they are prepared to work together not only on reconstructing Iraq but a host of other problems.