Sarkozy for Quick Lebanese Unity Cabinet Formation
In a sweeping diplomatic strategy speech, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for speeding up efforts to form a national unity government in Lebanon and pleaded for a new Mideast peace push.
"The path in the past 18 months carries a lot of hope," he said Wednesday about Lebanon”s political situation.
Sarkozy also called in his speech to senior French diplomats for the "quick formation of an effective national coalition government."
He criticized Iranian leaders for their handling of contested elections and their nuclear program, and pleaded for a new push for peace in the Middle East.
Sarkozy floated the possibility of "severe" new sanctions against Tehran if it continues its nuclear activities.
"These are the same leaders, in Iran, who tell us that the nuclear program is peaceful and that the elections were honest. Frankly, who believes them?" he asked.
Sarkozy reached out to Damascus, however, proposing to facilitate talks between Syria and Israel "if the two parties confirm their wish to do so."
The French president reiterated his appeal for a freeze in all Jewish settlement building in the Palestinian Territories, and said he would meet with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas in Paris next week.