A statement issued at the end of a Group of Eight meeting in France made specific reference to Iran and North Korea, urging them to comply with international nuclear safeguards.

The summit was the first opportunity for many of the leaders to meet since sharp divisions developed over the war in Iraq.

French President Jacques Chirac held talks with his US counterpart George W Bush, after which they said they might have disagreements, but they did not have to be "disagreeable" to each other.

Huge protests which erupted into violence on the first day of the G8 meeting on Sunday were not repeated yesterday.

The closing statement from the summit in Evian called global terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction "the pre-eminent threat to international security".

It said the world community had to use weapons inspections, export controls "and, if necessary, other measures" to tackle the threat of these weapons.

"We strongly urge North Korea to visibly, verifiably and irreversibly dismantle any nuclear weapons programmes," said the statement.

It added that Iran's nuclear programme could also lead to weapons production.

"We will not ignore the proliferation implications of Iran's advanced nuclear program," it added, appealing to Tehran to comply with its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and accept more intrusive UN inspections without conditions.

Iran recently acknowledged it had a far more extensive nuclear research program -- including uranium enrichment -- than previously declared. But it denies seeking atomic arms.

The Group -- the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Canada, Russia and Japan -- agreed on a plan to keep radioactive material from falling into the hands of terrorists. It would entail tighter monitoring of the location of materials and confining export to states "that have effective controls."

The G8, 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.

The leaders pledged still tighter export controls to ensure WMD technology was not passed on irresponsibly.

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.

US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Monday that Washington had imperfect intelligence about communist North Korea's nuclear capability, but took seriously Pyongyang's assertions it has atomic bombs.