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Chirac meets with Talabani in Presidential
Palace
3.11.2006
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Paris, November
2, -- French President Jacques Chirac met with his
Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani in a six-days visit
to France, Thursday afternoon in the Presidential
palace Elysee for hour-long talks in which Jacques
Chirac assured him of his "full support" in Iraq's
battle against rising sectarian and insurgent
violence.
In a speech in the French Institute of International
Relations earlier the day, Talabani expressed his
wishes to build up a new momentum in France-Iraq
relations.
"Mr Chirac confirmed that in this difficult time for
Iraq, France gives its full support to the policy of
national reconciliation, of inclusive dialogue and
action in favour of Iraqi unity and reconstruction,"
his spokesperson said.
Chirac said France also believes "it is important to
have the perspective of a withdrawal" of foreign
troops, without commenting specifically on a
timetable, according to his spokesperson Jerome
Bonnafont.
Talabani's comments clashed with those of the US
military commander in Iraq, General George Casey,
who said last week Iraq's armed forces should be
able to take on responsibility for security within
the next 12 to 18 months.
On Tuesday, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
endorsed a proposal by Iraqi and US military
commanders to increase the size of the Iraqi
security forces beyond 325 000 and accelerate their
training.
Violence forces US to keep more troops
The tide of violence in Iraq has forced the United
States to keep more troops than planned in Iraq to
bolster its troubled security forces to 150 000, and
the length of their deployment is a source of heated
debate at home. |
France's President Jacques Chirac (R) shakes hands
with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani before a meeting
at the Elysee Palace in Paris November 2, 2006
Photo:Reuters
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Though he insisted he was "not here to give you a
rosy picture," Talabani earlier gave a fairly upbeat
assessment of the security situation in Iraq.
"On the whole, there is no civil war," he said,
blaming "gangs and extremists" for the continuing
sectarian bloodshed. "Our new democracy is under
attack by a minority," he insisted.
Talabani called earlier for France to turn the page
on the rift sparked by its opposition to the 2003
US-led invasion and for Paris and Baghdad to revive
their once-close economic and political ties.
"Impetus to the relations between our two countries"
"The aim of this visit is to give a strong impetus
to the relations between our two countries," he told
the Paris conference, calling on French people "to
look at Iraq with a fresh eye".
"The new Iraq will rest on the values of liberty,
equality and fraternity," he vowed in a reference to
the French national motto.
"France can invest more in the new Iraq," said
Talabani, who met earlier with leaders of the French
oil giant Total. He insisted that Iraq's "economy
has been liberated" and was now "fertile ground for
investment".
Talabani praised late former French president
Francois Mitterrand for his support for Iraq's Kurds
under threat from Saddam after the 1990-1991 Gulf
War, and thanked Chirac for France's help in the
current reconstruction process.
But in a humorous sideswipe at opponents of the 2003
US-led war, the former Kurdish opposition leader
also added: "Without this war, perhaps you wouldn't
see me here as a president, but as a refugee."
The second Iraqi head of state to visit France since
the fall of Saddam's regime, after Ghazi Al-Yawar in
January last year, Talabani's official visit wraps
up on Friday but he will remain privately in the
country until Wednesday.
AFP
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