France has vowed to cut off contact with Syria until it shows a willingness to end the long-standing political crisis in Lebanon by facilitating the election of a new president, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said from Cairo on Sunday. "We will have no more contact with Syria ... until we have proof of Syrian willingness to let Lebanon appoint a consensus president," Sarkozy told reporters during a joint news conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak also urged Syria to facilitate the Lebanese presidential election.
Sarkozy, on his first official trip to the Middle East as president, said France wants a president for Lebanon. "It's time for Syria to prove with action what it has not stopped saying in speeches. We're now waiting for acts on Syria's part and not speeches," he said.
Sarkozy spoke with Syrian President Bashar Assad as recently as the beginning of December to urge him to "facilitate" the election in Lebanon. Sarkozy said he didn't regret contacting Assad, adding the move was well intentioned. He said France is ready to provide the money needed to create the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon to try suspects in the slaying of former Premier Rafik Hariri. |