France, U.S. step up Mideast negotiating
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Under intense international pressure to stop the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting, France and the United States stepped up negotiations Thursday on a resolution that calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and sets conditions for a lasting peace.
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Senior officials from the United States, Europe and several Arab nations met on Wednesday to work on a plan for ending more than two weeks of Mideast fighting, even as Israeli troops and Hezbollah continued to clash.
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The United States and France called on Wednesday for a closer friendship after years of strained relations over Iraq as they marked the 63rd anniversary of the D-Day invasion that broke the Nazi hold on Europe.
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LONDON - French President Jacques Chirac called Thursday for the United States and Europe to &quot;rally together&quot; to revive the Middle East peace process, declaring the matter urgent following the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
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Israel's foreign minister tells France more action is needed in the fight to curb the rise in anti-Semitism.
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Relaunching the Middle East peace  process will be a test of U.S. relations with Europe, French  Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said on Wednesday.
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The United States and France on Friday stressed their diplomatic efforts to end Iran's suspected nuclear arms program as major powers met to discuss possible new U.N. sanctions against Tehran.
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The U.S. and France agreed Saturday on a draft Security Council resolution that seeks a full halt to fighting in Lebanon, breaking a three-week impasse caused partly by Washington's refusal to press Israel to end its offensive against Hezbollah.
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The Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Sunday held their second summit in less than a month, prodded by U.S. officials to continue their fledgling dialogue.
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BERLIN  - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joined British and German allies pledging Friday to help Israel and the Palestinians seize an opening for peace in the Middle East. They also said diplomacy can neutralize a nuclear threat in Iran.
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"Next week in New York there will be discussions to try to have a resolution. If in the framework of the U.N. things are not sufficient, we will act in the European framework."  France's foreign minister appeared Tuesday to soften his weekend warning of war with Iran if it develops nuclear weapons, emphasizing instead the need to 'negotiate, negotiate, negotiate without respite.'Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also had said that European leaders were considering their own economic sanctions against Iran over its refusal to halt the enrichment of uranium in its nuclear program.Kouchner, who is on his first trip to Moscow as France's top diplomat, on Sunday said 'we must prepare ourselves for the worst' if Iran obtains nuclear weapons, and he specified that could mean a war. Read more
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"I've said several times... that it's time for Israel to make gestures which would show that peace is possible, including ending settlements"  France will have no more contact with Syria until Damascus shows willingness to let Lebanon end its long-running political crisis and find a new president, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Sunday. via New Straits Times
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WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (IPS) - In a sharp departure from U.S. policy, a leading  French diplomat has called on the international coalition  sponsoring U.N. sanctions against Iran to support a larger  Iranian role in the Middle East.
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The US secretary of state is due to meet Palestinian and Israeli leaders as part of a new diplomatic effort.
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France called on Thursday for a better, more balanced relationship with Washington as diplomatic ties between the two recover slowly after they soured over Iraq.
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Different approaches, same goal &#151; that's how both American and French diplomats are describing their joint efforts to end the fighting in Lebanon.
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MOUNT VERNON, Virginia  - The U.S. and French presidents forged a common front against Iran's nuclear ambitions on Wednesday, signaling a further warming of once-chilly relations between Washington and Paris.