Time for US, France to bury hatchet

2003-04-21 10:04

Washington - France's ambassador to the United States, Jean-David Levitte, said on Sunday that it was time for the two countries to mend their differences on Iraq, and move forward with post-Saddam reconstruction.

"The end of a dictatorship is always good news for all democracies," Levitte told CNN.

He recalled France's opposition to setting a US precedent for pre-emptive strikes, and his country's belief that Saddam Hussein's regime could have been done by peaceful means, but added: "That's in the past and let's turn this bitter page and let's work together for the future."

"I see Iraq reconstruction not as a cake to be shared but as a burden... it will be very costly, probably in the tens of billions of dollars each year, and we are ready to participate, take our share of the burden, not of the cake," Levitte said.

But the ambassador refused to be drawn on calls from US officials for France to write off Iraqi debt.

"There are procedures to take care of these problems, the Paris Club on debt and so on, so I think that in the coming weeks and months we'll discuss that and we are prepared to participate fully in this discussion," he said.

Levitte also spoke of deep historic ties between the two countries and called for renewed co-operation on the UN Security Council. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA