Wednesday, June 30, 2004

An unrepentant Mr Chirac, speaking before leaving for an EU summit in Brussels, reaffirmed that he was "entirely hostile" to any NATO presence in Iraq and was unapologetic about his rows with President Bush.

"We are friends and allies but we are not servants," he said. "When we don't agree, we don't say so aggressively, but in a firm manner."

Mr Bush ended the summit by restating US support for the entry of Turkey into the EU, even though Mr Chirac had publicly rebuked him a day earlier for becoming involved in European business.

But Mr Chirac said the force had been designed for dealing with security crises, not peace- keeping, and if it was deployed in Afghanistan, its core mission would be undermined. "It (the force) shouldn't be used just for any old matter," he said.


http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/30/1088488025915.html?from=top5

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