French FM reaffirms solidarity with US on anti-terror fight
PLA Daily 2004-02-11
PARIS, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- France's solidarity with the United States has been consistent during and ever since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against Washington and New York, Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said Tuesday.
"The United States security was threatened (with the Sept. 11 attacks), and France was immediately present," said de Villepin in an interview with the International Policy quarterly.
"This solidarity has naturally continued ever since our joint fight against terrorism and it has survived despite the difficulties that surfaced between our two countries," he said.
In particular, he noted the speedy French military deployment in Afghanistan and recent cancellation of Air France trans-Atlantic flights "in response to the concerns from the part of the Americans."
On UN Security Council's debate on whether to authorize war against Iraq, de Villepin said: "France, with many others, campaigned for a principle and not at all against the United States or Britain."
"Never a word was said against the United States, which given the context that prevailed in the media (at the time), was not without merit," he stressed.
However, the French minister reiterated that there is no shortcut in fighting terrorism and rejected approaches based exclusively on security concerns.
"We must deal with the evil at its roots and fight all those that the terrorism feeds on," he said.
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