Bush 'impressed' by Sarkozy
French President Nicolas Sarkozy ended a Washington visit marked by talk of cooperation on difficult international issues and strengthening relations between the United States and France.
The French president was greeted at events with ovation and high pomp, an indication that US leaders were pinning past tensions over the Iraq war to Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, and wished to move on.
In a final press conference yesterday with President George Bush, the two leaders struck similar tones on a host of issues including confronting Iran and pressing Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to hold elections, while barely mentioning contention over topics like global warming.
Bush said agreement on Iran was a hallmark of their talks at Mount Vernon, the suburban Virginia home of the first American president, George Washington.
He said he and Sarkozy expressed "the desire to work jointly to convince the Iranian regime to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions for the sake of peace".
"It is unacceptable for Iran at any point to have a nuclear weapon," said Sarkozy. "I believe even in the need to toughen" UN sanctions now levelled against Tehran for continuing to enrich uranium.
Although some suspect Bush of leading a march towards war to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, the US president said the diplomatic course is his preferred choice.
"The idea of Iran having a nuclear weapon is dangerous, and therefore now is the time for us to work together to diplomatically solve this problem," Bush said.
The two leaders, commenting on a sensitive political crisis in Pakistan, also agreed that Musharraf must move quickly to hold elections.
For several days, the White House has faced questions about why Bush was taking a relatively soft line on Musharraf's crackdown and had not spoken directly to the Pakistan president, whom Bush has called a friend he trusts. But standing beside Sarkozy, Bush said he had called Musharraf earlier.
"My message was that we believe strongly in elections and that you ought to have elections soon and you need to take off your uniform," Bush said.
Sarkozy agreed with Bush on the need "to have elections as quickly as possible".
Bush greeted Sarkozy on Mount Vernon's front lawn, overlooking a sweeping view of the Potomac River and multicoloured autumn foliage.
The two went inside the home for a tour of its rooms, renovated to appear as they did when the first Washington died there in 1799, and for their meeting in the large dining room that Washington added to the house to entertain the hundreds of guests who came to visit each year.
"It's safe to say that you've impressed a lot of people here on your journey," Bush said to his guest. "I have a partner in peace, somebody who has clear vision, basic values, who is willing to take tough positions to achieve peace."
Appearing together with the main house behind them, both played down prior conflicts between the two countries, including about Iraq.
"I never really felt that the disagreement over Iraq should yield a rupture in relations," Bush said earlier in an interview with the French television network, TF1.
Sarkozy made only a passing reference to a big difference on climate change. The French leader wants to make his country a vanguard of the movement against global warming, while Bush advocates mostly voluntary and technology-based solutions to the problem.
And Bush said he was comfortable with France's effort to break a political deadlock over elections in Lebanon by engaging in direct talks with Syria. While the Bush administration has shunned Syria, a French diplomat recently travelled to Damascus to discuss the elections.
Lebanon's anti-Syrian parliament majority has accused Syria of blocking the presidential elections through its allies in Lebanon, an allegation Damascus denies.
Sarkozy went to Washington seeking to smooth over differences. In an indication that he has shifted the dynamic after just six months in office, he was greeted earlier yesterday by rousing standing ovations in the US Capitol.
In 1996, many US lawmakers boycotted a similar appearance by his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, to protest France's nuclear testing in the South Pacific.
Speaking through a translator to lawmakers gathered in the chamber of the House of Representatives for a Joint Meeting of Congress, Sarkozy highlighted France's long friendship with the United States and gratitude for American help in the Second World War.
He left to applause and cheers, pausing to embrace lawmakers and even to autograph books passed to him by members of Congress.
