From Iran to US, Sarkozy speech signals French diplomatic shift
· President seeks role in Iraq mediation
· Iran's nuclear ambitions are 'the most serious crisis'
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
@achrisafis
Tue 28 Aug 2007 08.27 EDT
The French president Nicolas Sarkozy last night demanded a clear timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq, and said a nuclear-armed Iran would be "unacceptable".
In the first broad foreign policy speech of his presidency, Mr Sarkozy struck a notably more pro-US tone than his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, setting out his vision for a world "challenged" by a confrontation between Islam and the west.
He described the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme as "undoubtedly the most serious crisis before us today", saying a diplomatic push to rein in Tehran was the only alternative to "the Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran." This broke with Mr Chirac, who had earlier suggested that a nuclear-armed Iran might be inevitable.
In the speech to 180 French ambassadors, Mr Sarkozy also appeared to soften his stance on Turkey, saying France would not block negotiations between the EU and Ankara over Turkish membership as long as a special consultation committee was set up to consider Europe's borders.
In another break with the Chirac regime, Mr Sarkozy hardened his tone against Vladimir Putin, saying Russia was using its oil and gas wealth with "brutality".
Stressing the importance of a French presence in the Middle East, Mr Sarkozy said he was prepared to hold high-level talks with Syria if it backed French efforts to end the political crisis in Lebanon.
Mr Sarkozy's speech comes as France attempts to reconcile itself with the US and carve out a role as a mediator in Iraq. But hours before Mr Sarkozy took the podium, his foreign minister Bernard Kouchner was forced to publicly apologise for "interfering in Iraqi affairs" after he suggested the Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki should be removed.
Iraq's beleaguered Shia prime minister demanded an apology from the French government after Mr Kouchner told the US magazine Newsweek he should quit.
"I just had [US secretary of state] Condoleezza [Rice] on the phone 10 or 15 minutes ago, and I told her, 'Listen, he's got to be replaced,'" Mr Kouchner had told the magazine.
"Many people believe the prime minister ought to be changed," he said. "I don't know if that will go through, though, because it seems President Bush is attached to Mr Maliki. But the government is not functioning."
Yesterday Mr Kouchner told French radio: "If the prime minister wants me to excuse myself for having interfered in Iraqi affairs in such a direct way, then I do so willingly."
This month Mr Kouchner made the first visit by a French foreign minister to Iraq since France opposed the US-led invasion in 2003. It was a symbolic trip which marked Paris's eagerness for a role in Iraq and its push for greater UN and EU involvement.
Yesterday Mr Kouchner wrote in the International Herald Tribune that France was ready to act as a mediator in Iraq, arguing that there could only be a political solution, not a military one.
He appealed for the UN and Iraq's neighbours to act, saying: "The methods used to build a secure and democratic Iraq have failed."