France

France to help develop Saudi, Egyptian, Gulf nuclear programs

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 18, 2009, 9:57 PM (GMT+02:00)

France has injected fresh momentum into the Middle East nuclear race by inviting Gulf nations to take a minority stake in the French nuclear giant Areva (CEPFi.PA), debkafile's military sources report. After a meeting with French president Nicolas Sarkozy Friday, March 13, the emir of Kuwait, Sheikh ...

Sarkozy in Damascus backs away from US-led condemnation of Iran's nuclear program

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report September 6, 2008, 7:57 PM (GMT+02:00)

French president Nicolas Sarkozy said in Damascus Wednesday, Sept 3: "Obviously there is a lack of confidence between Iran and the nations involved in this issue. We [the French] will continue our efforts for dialogue." In a clear departure from Washington's position and in breach of his promises to ...

Indirect Israel-Syrian talks resume next Sunday on borders - Elysee, Paris

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report September 5, 2008, 12:11 AM (GMT+02:00)

Indirect Israel-Syrian talks resume next Sunday on borders - Elysee, Paris

Assad pours icy water on Olmert-Sarkozy-Abbas upbeat peace show

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report July 16, 2008, 10:57 AM (GMT+02:00)

French president Nicolas Sarkozy organized a jovial photo-op with Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas to launch his Mediterranean union debut in Paris Sunday, July 13, attended by 40 leaders. The first sour note came from Syrian president Bashar Assad, who was reinstated by Sarkozy ...

Sarkozy: No peace without stopping Jewish settlement

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 25, 2008, 4:38 PM (GMT+02:00)

Sarkozy: No peace without stopping Jewish settlement

Exclusive: PM Olmert willing to cede Shebaa Farms to UN custody ahead of Golan

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 21, 2008, 9:19 PM (GMT+02:00)

debkafile's sources reveal that prime minister Ehud Olmert told US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice when they met in Jerusalem Sunday, June 15, that he was willing to evacuate Israeli troops and hand this strategic enclave on the Hermon slopes to United Nations custody as early as July ...

Sarkozy lands in Beirut, opens "new page" in French relations with... Syria

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 10, 2008, 1:40 PM (GMT+02:00)

The first foreign head of state to visit Lebanon since Gen. Michel Suleiman took office as president, Nicolas Sarkozy arrived Saturday, June 7, with a large delegation including prime minister Francois Fillon and heads of government and opposition parties. In an interview with Lebanese dailies L'Orient-le jour, An Nahar ...

Exclusive: Six pirates detained after French luxury yacht freed with crew

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 15, 2008, 1:24 PM (GMT+02:00)

debkafile's shipping correspondent reports that the CMA-CGM company, owners of the luxury yacht Le Ponant seized in Somali waters a week ago, did not deny paying ransom for the release of the 32-member crew and yacht. At the same time, the elite French GIGN force was able to ...

Elite French counter-terror team on standby to rescue yacht seized by Somali pirates

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 11, 2008, 12:58 PM (GMT+02:00)

debkafile's shipping correspondent reveals that the pirates who seized the French Le Ponant luxury yacht Friday in international waters off Somalia and took its 32-man crew hostage, headed south Monday, April 7. They are moored on the Indian Ocean shore of the semi-autonomous Somali province of Puntland, near ...

Sarkozy declares UK and France must put an end to Iran's nuclear ambitions

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 27, 2008, 11:48 AM (GMT+02:00)

Sarkozy declares UK and France must put an end to Iran's nuclear ambitions

France, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia secretly launch their first joint war game

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 29, 2008, 10:51 AM (GMT+02:00)

debkafile's military sources report exclusively that the first Persian Gulf exercise without the US in many years began Feb. 24. It will last ten days. It is also the first time the United Arab Emirates and France have invoked their 19-year old military pact. France has contributed 1 ...

Sarkozy orders suspension of France's diplomatic ties with Syria

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report January 1, 2008, 8:33 AM (GMT+02:00)

debkafile Reports: Iranian-Syrian nuclear issues heat up amid growing mistrust of IAEA director in Washington, Paris and Jerusalem

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report November 5, 2007, 11:38 AM (GMT+02:00)

French defense minister Herve Morin said Monday, Oct. 29, he has information that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. He thus publicly contradicted remarks made by IAEA director Mohammed ElBaradai that there is no such evidence. Morin, on a visit to the Persian Gulf emirates, spoke at the same time as ...

French FM Kouchner: The Iranian nuclear crisis forces the world to prepare for the worst - which is war

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report September 20, 2007, 11:38 PM (GMT+02:00)

In a series of press, radio and TV interviews, Sunday, Sept. 16, Bernard Kouchner also said he had advised large French companies not to respond to tenders issued by Tehran. debkafile adds: France thus joined the economic sanctions imposed by the US, Britain, Japan and Germany on Iran for ...

debkafile: Sarkozy is first Western leader to speak out loud about US plan to bomb Iran

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report September 3, 2007, 9:09 AM (GMT+02:00)

Addressing 180 French diplomats Monday, Aug. 27, French president Nicolas Sarkozy said a nuclear-armed Iran would be unacceptable and the world must tighten sanctions while offering Tehran incentives to halt weapons development. "This initiative is the only one that can enable us to escape an alternative that I say is ...

The concept of a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable, says Nicolas Sarkozy in Berlin interview

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 23, 2007, 4:55 PM (GMT+02:00)

The concept of a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable, says Nicolas Sarkozy in Berlin interview

debkafile: Will al Qaeda use violence to prevent Sarcozy becoming French president? The Madrid rail bombing worked in Spain

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 29, 2007, 1:48 PM (GMT+02:00)

The right-centre contender Nicolas Sarcozy has a better than good chance of winning France's presidential runoff on May 6, after his 31% vote in the first round topped the 26% gained by his leading rival, the Socialist Segolene Royal. debkafile's counter-terror sources report: The countdown has begun ...

France's presidential candidates hold final campaign rallies Thursday

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 20, 2007, 1:56 PM (GMT+02:00)

France's presidential candidates hold final campaign rallies Thursday

Chirac's Tolerance of a Nuclear-Armed Iran Stirs Response in Washington

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 5, 2007, 4:38 PM (GMT+02:00)

Last week, French president Jacques Chirac said he was not concerned about the danger of Iran having "...one or perhaps a second bomb..." In a statement he retracted a day later, he said it would be an act of self-destruction for Iran to use a nuclear weapon against another country ...

Sharon and Chirac - Partners in Distress

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report July 28, 2005, 12:20 PM (GMT+02:00)

French president Jacques Chirac lavished brilliant fanfare and ceremonial warmth on a rare visitor to Paris, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, when he arrived Wednesday, July 28, on a state visit to France. The ice-breaking symbolism was just that, no more than a thin veneer over the true state of ...