Washington - US President George W Bush and his French
counterpart, Nicholas Sarkozy, said Wednesday they were committed to
keeping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and working together on a
host of international challenges.
Sarkozy, who took office in May pledging to strengthen ties with
the United States after years of sour relations, stood by Bush in
supporting the efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and free the Lebanese
of Syrian influence.
Sarkozy joined Bush in calling on embattled Pakistani President
Pervez Musharraf to hold elections as scheduled in January despite
the political unrest and violent protests that have engulfed the
country.
'You cannot combat extremism using the same methods as
extremists,' Sarkozy said. 'And it is very important, it is of the
essence, that Pakistan organize elections.'
Bush said he telephoned Musharraf on Wednesday with a 'very plain,
very easy to understand' message that Musharraf, a general, must hold
elections on time and give up his post as head of the Pakistani
military.
'My message was that we believe strongly in elections and that you
ought to have elections soon, and you need to take off your uniform,'
Bush said at a press conference with Sarkozy at the mansion of the
first US president, George Washington.
Sarkozy's first official visit to Washington was seen as marking
the end of tumultuous relations between the two counties that erupted
when his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, lobbied against Bush's failed
effort to get UN Security Council approval for the March 2003
invasion of Iraq.
Sarkozy endorsed Bush's view that tougher international sanctions
should be enacted against Iran for its defiance of Security Council
demands to halt uranium enrichment.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
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