PARIS (AP) - Trying to mend fences with Europe, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday "it is time to turn away from the disagreements of the past" that alienated longtime allies over the US invasion of Iraq.

France was the most vocal opponent of President Bush's handling of the war with Iraq, and the new secretary of state deliberately chose Paris for the major address of her first official tour of Europe.

But Rice did not back down from Bush's pledge to spread freedom across the globe.

In a speech at Paris's Sciences Politiques, she said: "America stands ready to work with Europe on our common agenda and Europe must stand ready to work with America."
"After all, history will surely judge us not by our old disagreements, but by our new achievements," she said.

Sciences Politiques, known in France as Sciences Po, is a school of political science that has been at the centre of recent debate over America's reach and power. Some 500 students and intellectuals were attending and Rice was to take questions from the audience.

Rice said the founders of both the French and US republics were inspired by the same values - freedom, democracy and human dignity - and by each other. History has shown that revolutions striving for freedom can start in mundane ways but need outside help, she said.

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