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Sarkozy loses temper over Israeli PM
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu for backing out of talks with acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas in a Paris summit.
The French leader brought the issue to the fore in an attempt to lay the groundwork for the resumption of direct talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Sarkozy then extended invitations to Abbas and Netanyahu to attend an October 21 summit in the French capital, but the Israeli premier backed at participating in the negotiations "at the last minute." Meanwhile, European diplomats say Netanyahu's decision stirred the outrage of the French president, whose fury was quite evident during his conversation with the Israeli leader. "Netanyahu realized that he would come under enormous pressure on the issue of the settlements and decided to cancel his participation to avoid that pressure," the diplomats said. However, the Israeli Prime Minster's office has denied the reports, saying the telephone conversation between the two leaders was "a routine call between friends." The fall-out comes as Tel Aviv continues to ignore international calls to extend the partial 10-month moratorium on the expansion of its occupation through settlement construction. Posted by: tipper 2010-11-01 |
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