"France's position is to work for the universal abolition of the death penalty, in close collaboration with its European partners, and in all relevant international bodies," a foreign ministry spokesman said, when asked about the Italian drive.

Italy was among the many European nations to have opposed the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein last week.

The Italian government said on Monday that it wanted to reintroduce a proposal for a universal moratorium on the death penalty before the United Nations General Assembly.

But the head of Italy's libertarian Radical Party, Marco Pannella, 76, is entering the second week of a hunger strike launched to urge Rome to propose a resolution against capital punishment before the UN Security Council.

The UN Security Council is made up of five permanent members -- the United States, Britain, China, Russia and France -- plus 10 non-permanent members, all of which serve two-year terms and five of which are elected every year.

Of the five permanent members, China and the United States use the death penalty widely. The other three have abolished it.

Amnesty International says at least 2,148 people were executed and 5,186 were sentenced to death in 2005, mainly in China, Saudi Arabia, the United States and Iran.