Sarkozy calls for (foreign) troop exit from Iraq

[ProSense]

Sarkozy calls for troop exit from Iraq by Carole Landry 1 hour, 44 minutes ago

PARIS (AFP) - President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday called for a clear timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq as he outlined an assertive role for France in other world hotspots.

Making his first foreign policy speech since taking office, Sarkozy recalled that France had opposed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 but that it was now ready to help the international community bring about a political solution.

"A clear horizon must be defined concerning the withdrawal of foreign troops," Sarkozy said in the address to French ambassadors from 180 countries.

"It is the awaited decision on this issue that will force the players to weigh their responsibility and organise themselves accordingly," he said.

The address came just hours after Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was forced to make an embarrassing apology for suggesting that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stand down.

Kouchner took French foreign policy in a new direction last week when he paid a visit to Baghdad, offering to help stabilise the country and mediate between the warring communities.

Maliki had angrily demanded an apology on Sunday from Kouchner after he was quoted in the US magazine Newsweek as saying: "I just had (US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice) on the phone 10 or 15 minutes ago, and I told her, 'Listen, he's got to be replaced.'"

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[peacetalksforall]

1. France gives their authorizaton to bomb Iran - that's what is also

in this article.

Maliki tells Rice that the French diplomat has to go?

France is going to become more militarily aggressive in the world?

This article is loaded with inferences and probably outlines the future?

U.S. soldiers fighting side by side with the French within Cuba? Next?

Since right wing followers never waver in their hate - they still won't
forgive France because they think of it as pacifist and the opposite is
the truth. France supported the U.S. in the coup of Haiti in more ways
than words. The 21st century coup.

[ProSense]

2. Sarkozy opposed an attack on Iran, would be "catastrophic"

Sarkozy cautions against attack on Iran

French President Cautions Against Attacking Iran In Standoff Over Tehran's Nuclear Program

PARIS, Aug. 27, 2007

(AP) French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned Monday that it would be "catastrophic" to resort to military force in confronting Iran over its suspect nuclear program.

"For me, Iran having a nuclear weapon is unacceptable," Sarkozy said in his first major address on foreign policy, but he stressed that he opposed an attack on the Islamic regime and urged that the West rely on diplomacy.

He said Iran can choose between dialogue with the international community or more U.N. sanctions. "This tactic is the only one that allows us to escape from a catastrophic alternative: an Iranian bomb, or the bombing of Iran," he said.

Sarkozy also said Iran is entitled to use nuclear power for civilian needs, such as generating electricity.

If countries like Iran run out of fossil fuels, and "if they don't have the right to the energy of the future, then we will create conditions of misery and underdevelopment, and therefore an explosion of terrorism," Sarkozy said.

In other areas, the new president signaled a shift in tone from his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, casting himself as a "friend of Israel" and taking a tougher line on Russia and China.

But despite his admiration for the United States, Sarkozy said Chirac was right to oppose the war in Iraq, which he called a mistake.

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