Sarkozy no fan of the Iraq war
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=a2oGGj8tqgGY&refer=europe
Sarkozy Says U.S. Troop Pullout Would Help End Iraq Civil War By Helene Fouquet
Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the
prospect of a U.S. troop pullout from Iraq would help lead to a
political settlement among the warring parties there.
“Defining a clear prospect for the withdrawal of foreign troops” is
required for Iraq to move out of civil war, he said in a speech to
French ambassadors in Paris today. “The only possible solution is a
political solution.”
France is increasing its diplomatic involvement in Iraq, seeking to
ease lingering tensions with the U.S. from then- President Jacques
Chirac’s opposition to the American-led toppling of Saddam Hussein.
“France was and remains hostile to this war,” Sarkozy said today.
Still, Sarkozy supported Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner after he
criticized Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his government.
Kouchner apologized for the criticism. Kouchner this month made the
first visit to Iraq by a French minister since 2003. He said today
France is prepared to act as a mediator to help establish a broad-
based government of national unity.
“He (Kouchner) was right to go to Baghdad and led this trip
remarkably,” Sarkozy said. “I work with him in full confidence.”
In an Aug. 24 interview posted on Newsweek’s Web site, Kouchner said
“many people believe that the prime minister ought to be changed”
and that “the government is not functioning.”
Al-Maliki demanded an apology from the French government at a news
conference in Baghdad yesterday. Kouchner apologized today on RTL radio.
“I was very polite and apologized,” Kouchner said after the
president’s speech. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said it straight away.
Maybe I should have said that `people’ have told me that he is going
to leave, because he is going to.”