Nov 7, 2007, 23:26 GMT
Washington - US President George W Bush and French President Nicholas Sarkozy said Wednesday they were committed to keeping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and to working together on a host of international challenges.
Sarkozy, who took office in May pledging warmer ties with the United States after years of sour relations, stood by Bush in supporting a stable Afghanistan and a Lebanese democracy free of Syrian meddling.
Sarkozy has adopted more pro-US policies since taking office, most notably on the dispute over Iran's nuclear activities and Tehran's continued defiance of UN Security Council demands to halt uranium enrichment.
'It is unacceptable that Iran should have at any point a nuclear weapon,' Sarkozy said through a translator. '... I believe in the effectiveness of sanctions. I believe even in the need to toughen the sanctions.'
Bush and Sarkozy discussed a broad range of topics during two days of meetings that began Tuesday evening at the White House with a dinner and continued Wednesday at the Mount Vernon estate of the first US president, George Washington, just outside the US capital.
Sarkozy's first official visit marked the resumption of the two countries' solid diplomatic relations, which had been badly frayed over the war in Iraq and the efforts of his Paris predecessor, Jacques Chirac, to thwart UN-backing for the March 2003 invasion.
Bush noted that Sarkozy's decision this summer to dispatch Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to Iraq was a sign that Sarkozy backs the US goal of a free and stable Iraq.
'We had a difference of opinion,' Bush said. 'But I don't sense any difference of opinion now, that a struggling democracy wants help from those of us who live in the comfort of free societies.'
'It is in no one's interest to see Iraq dismantled,' Sarkozy said. 'We want a democratic Iraq.'
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 plagued 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 earlier Wednesday with a 'very plain, very easy to understand' message that Musharraf, a general, must give up his post as head of the Pakistani military and hold elections on time.
Prior to his second meeting with Bush, Sarkozy addressed a joint session of Congress, touting the friendship between the two countries, which dates back more than 200 years, while urging lawmakers to support a stronger Europe that would be able to take on a greater and independent military role in the world.
'Trust Europe,' he said. 'Our world is unstable. It is a dangerous world. ... The United States of America needs a strong, determined Europe.'
Sarkozy praised the United States for its leadership in supporting democracy and freedom and for liberating France from Nazi occupation during World War II.
'Every time, whenever an American soldier falls somewhere in the world, I think of what the American army did for France,' Sarkozy said. 'I think of them, and I am sad, as one is saddened to lose a member of one's family.'
Sarkozy received a standing ovation when he entered the filled-to- capacity chamber, and his speech was interrupted several times by applause.
Sarkozy's determination to repair relations with the United States has not been welcomed in all of France. He irked segments of the French public when he flew to the United States for his summer vacation and met Bush for lunch at the Bush family retreat in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Sarkozy also raised issues that continue to pose problems in US- French relations. He criticized Washington for failing to address the dollar's weakness against the euro, and said the Bush administration needed to do more to combat global warming.
'Those who admire the nation that has built the world's greatest economy and has never ceased trying to persuade the world of the advantages of free trade expect her to be the first to promote fair exchange rates,' he said.
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