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France's Sarkozy tells Syria to cool its Iran ties
French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday called on Damascus to distance itself from Iran and its nuclear programme.
- Agencies
- Published: 19:17 June 14, 2008
Paris: French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday called on Damascus to distance itself from Iran and its nuclear programme.
"Syria should distance itself as much as possible from Iran in its quest for a nuclear weapon," Sarkozy said.
Iran on Saturday rejected an incentives offer from the world's major powers, including France, to persuade it from stopping its controversial nuclear programme.
Sarkozy also defended his decision to invite Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to a summit in Paris on July 13 for the launch of his project for a Mediterranean Union.
"We have taken the intitiative to hold a summit of the Mediterranean. As far as I know, Syria is a Mediterranean country," Sarkozy said.
Last year, Sarkozy stopped high-level contacts with Damascus, which Paris blamed for stoking tensions in neighbouring Lebanon, which has just chosen a president.
"I told Bashar Al Assad that if Syria lets the presidential process run its course, we will resume contact. We have resumed contact," Sarkozy told reporters.
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