Bush, Sarkozy show unity on Iran, other key issues

Nov 7, 2007, 21:34 GMT

Washington - US President George W Bush and his French counterpart, Nicholas Sarkozy, said Wednesday they were committed to keeping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and working together on a host of international challenges.

Sarkozy, who took office in May pledging to strengthen ties with the United States after years of sour relations, stood by Bush in supporting the efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and free the Lebanese of Syrian influence.

Sarkozy joined Bush in calling on embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to hold elections as scheduled in January despite the political unrest and violent protests that have engulfed the country.

'You cannot combat extremism using the same methods as extremists,' Sarkozy said. 'And it is very important, it is of the essence, that Pakistan organize elections.'

Bush said he telephoned Musharraf on Wednesday with a 'very plain, very easy to understand' message that Musharraf, a general, must hold elections on time and give up his post as head of the Pakistani military.

'My message was that we believe strongly in elections and that you ought to have elections soon, and you need to take off your uniform,' Bush said at a press conference with Sarkozy at the mansion of the first US president, George Washington.

Sarkozy's first official visit to Washington was seen as marking the end of tumultuous relations between the two counties that erupted when his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, lobbied against Bush's failed effort to get UN Security Council approval for the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Sarkozy endorsed Bush's view that tougher international sanctions should be enacted against Iran for its defiance of Security Council demands to halt uranium enrichment.