France expressed deep concern on Thursday at the launch of an Iraq war it had fought hard to avert and said it was boosting domestic measures against feared terror strikes on its soil.Denouncing what it called an "illegitimate and dangerous war," the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, suspended its session to demonstrate the broad domestic support President Jacques Chirac has won for his anti-war stance.

"As the first military operation in Iraq starts, the French authorities express their deep concern," the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement.

"They (French authorities) hope the conflict that has just started can end as quickly as possible," the statement said. "They call on countries in the region to abstain from any initiative that could aggravate the situation."

Separately, the Interior Ministry said it was deploying a further 500 soldiers to join the regular police force and an existing deployment of 300 soldiers in surveillance at rail stations and other public areas deemed at risk.

Among the measures already taken was the deployment of riot police outside the U.S. embassy in central Paris.

The spokesman said the ministry had set up a domestic alert cell to centralize security information from all over France, a standard measure at times of international conflict or internal security concerns.

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks against U.S. landmarks, France has feared a terror strike on its territory. Government officials said a spate of arrests of Islamic radicals in Paris suburbs last year pre-empted at least one planned attack.

France sought in vain to use its influence on the U.N. Security Council to block U.S.-led plans for military action against Baghdad but President Bush declared Washington and its allies were going ahead without U.N. endorsement.

Washington finally launched the war Thursday with selective missile and aircraft strikes on Baghdad around dawn there.

U.S. government sources said it used stealth fighters and long-range cruise missiles to target "very senior" Iraqi leaders.

"An illegitimate and dangerous war has just started," Parliament Speaker Jean-Louis Debre, a close Chirac ally, told the National Assembly ahead of its scheduled Thursday session.

"You will understand that, in these circumstances, I am suspending the session to show just how much all the nation's representatives disapprove of these deeply worrying events," Debre told deputies.

Aside from a few dissenting voices within Chirac's own conservative ranks, his anti-war stance has won wide political and public approval in France, boosting his popularity ratings.

France switched its diplomatic efforts several days ago to making sure the United Nations is not bypassed in efforts to rebuild Iraq after the war.

PHOTO CAPTION

French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin speaks to the National Assembly in Paris Tuesday March 18, 2003. Raffarin said France is still an ally of the United States, despite strident French opposition to the U.S. threat to start a war against Iraq . (AP Photo/Franck Prevel)