Bush, Sarkozy warn Iran, Syria

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By Elizabeth Bryant

PARIS | President Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in lockstep on a number of Middle East issues, issued warnings Saturday against Iran and Syria and reaffirmed their support for a united and independent Lebanon.

"Iran getting a nuclear bomb is unacceptable," Mr. Bush said at a press conference at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris. "It´s an unacceptable threat for the stability of the world."

Mr. Bush's warning against Tehran, coming hours after Iran appeared to reject a new European Union offer to end the standoff over its nuclear program, was echoed by Mr. Sarkozy, who described a nuclear-armed Iran as "totally unacceptable."

Standing side by side on a chilly June day, Mr. Bush and Mr. Sarkozy took pains to stress their countries' long-standing friendship and even shared a compliment about Mr. Sarkozy's celebrity wife, Carla Bruni.

"She's a really smart, capable woman, and I can see why you married her," Mr. Bush said of Mrs. Bruni, who co-hosted with Mr. Sarkozy a dinner Friday for Mr. Bush and first lady Laura Bush.

Mr. Bush paused, before adding: "I can see why she married you, too."

Both presidents also delivered warnings against Syria, calling on Damascus to end its backing of terrorists and of Iran's nuclear efforts. But Mr. Sarkozy defended his controversial invitation to Syrian President Bashar Assad to attend France's Bastille Day celebrations next month alongside other leaders attending an upcoming Mediterranean summit.

"To my knowledge, Syria is one of the Mediterranean countries. And if one does the tour of the Mediterranean and invites only those who correspond exactly to our criteria, one risks having a meeting with very few people present," Mr. Sarkozy said.

For his part, Mr. Bush expressed optimism that Washington could reach a long-term agreement for U.S. troops to remain in Iraq despite a more gloomy assessment on negotiations delivered by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"If I were a betting man, we'll reach agreement with the Iraqis," Mr. Bush told reporters.

In a joint statement issued by the Elysee, Washington and Paris also declared their support for a peaceful, sovereign and independent Lebanon and for "friendly" diplomatic ties with Syria after its long-standing control over Beirut.

The relaxed atmosphere between the two leaders underscored the turnaround in bilateral relations after a freeze over the war in Iraq. While ties had been on the mend under Mr. Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, the French media has dwelt at length on the current uptick, speculating that Mr. Bush is more at ease with the younger, pro-American Mr. Sarkozy.

The positive tone of Mr. Bush's visit to France has been echoed in stopovers in Germany and Italy last week in what may be his last official trip to Europe - one contrasting strongly with the rocky trans-Atlantic ties of a few years ago.

"Bush actually leaves a trans-Atlantic alliance which is in much more robust shape than you might have imagined when you listen to a lot of the rhetoric and watched the events over the last eight years," said Robin Shepherd, an analyst at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.

"He leaves an expanded NATO, with countries from Central and Eastern Europe, which have a much more Atlanticist way of looking at the world than some countries in Western Europe.

"And the same applies to the European Union - the new members have added an Atlanticist dynamic into its workings," Mr. Shepherd added of the EU, which has expanded from 15 to 27 members during Mr. Bush's tenure.

Talks between Mr. Bush and Mr. Sarkozy also dwelt on Afghanistan - another area in which France and the United States have drawn closer. Paris recently announced it would dispatch 700 more troops there and hosted a donors conference for the war-shattered country Thursday.

Still, the two countries remain apart on other issues. Mr. Sarkozy, for example, opposes Turkey's entry into the EU, which the Bush administration supports. Europe also champions tougher and binding targets to fight climate change.

Mr. Bush's next stop, London, where his relations with Prime Minister Gordon Brown are markedly less warm than with predecessor Tony Blair, marks yet another sign of changing trans-Atlantic relations.