US Rice Expresses Confidence In French Approach To Syria
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed confidence Saturday that France would send the right message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad when he visited Paris next month.
Rice was speaking soon after her arrival from the French capital, where she took part in a donors” conference for Afghanistan and accompanied U.S. President George W. Bush on his visit there.
Earlier in the week she had expressed some reservations about the recent rapprochement between France and Syria.
Freshly arrived in Jerusalem on Saturday, however, she was more positive about the forthcoming meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Syria”s Assad.
"I don”t have any doubt that any contact with Bashir al-Assad will be from our point of view contacts that communicate the right messages on what are shared French and American goals…in the Middle East," she told reporters.
President Assad is to attend the July 14Independence Day celebrations at the invitation of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
"I also know that we and the French have completely consistent views on the situation in Lebanon as evidenced by the joint statement that presidents Sarkozy and Bush issued today," she added.
Earlier Saturday, Bush and Sarkozy issued a joint statement in which they urged Syria to break ties with Iran, end its support for anti-Israeli militants, and renew formal ties with Lebanon.
Their joint stand was in stark contrast to the strained relations between Bush and Sarkozy”s predecessor as president, Jacques Chirac, who led international opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Rice flew back to the Middle East Saturday in a fresh bid to inject impetus into sluggish peace talks that have been threatened by a political crisis in Israel.