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Photo: Reuters
Sarkozy. Expects change in Damascus
Photo: Reuters

Sarkozy: I've reached the end of the road with Assad

French president says he's outraged by Damascus' intervention in Lebanese political process, expects 'actions, not talk' from President Assad

"I've reached the end of the road with (Syrian President Bashar) Assad," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters Wednesday during a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

 

Sarkozy was referring to the Syrian intervention in the political crisis in Lebanon, and stressed that France expected Damascus to change its attitude on the matter, London-based Arabic language al-Sharq al-Awsat reported.

 

"I've talked with him (Assad) three times and spoke candidly and openly. I took the risk and talked to him when no one else would. I took initiative and said, 'Lebanon has the right to have its own president, to enjoy its independence and to have a national unity government. You must use all the means at your disposal to see that these goals are accomplished'," Sarkozy said.

 

"I'm telling you," the French president said to the reporters, "that I've reached the end of the road with Assad. Talk is no longer enough, I want to see actions. The last chance for this would be this coming Saturday."

 

On Saturday the Lebanese parliament is scheduled to convene to elect the country's next president, after election has already been delayed for eight times.

 

Turning his attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Sarkozy said, "Israel is a political fact established in the first half of the Twentieth century, and the Palestinian state will be a new fact of the Twenty-First Century."

 

The president stated that he supported an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem.

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.19.07, 13:22
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