Sarkozy in Iraq: "Our cooperation has no limits" visit, fresh attacks in Mosul (Roundup)

Feb 10, 2009, 15:42 GMT

Baghdad - French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking in Baghdad on Tuesday, hailed Iraq's provincial elections and confirmed France's commitment to the country.

'My visit represents France's commitment to Iraq,' Sarkozy told reporters in a joint press conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani Tuesday.

'I have come to emphasize France's wish to participate in the economic development of Iraq and the rehabilitation of its infrastructure. Our collaboration has no limits.'

'We want to collaborate in economic, energy and reconstruction. We can help educate your elites ..., we can help you train your police and security forces, we can train and equip the Iraqi army,' Sarkozy said.

In October, French and Iraqi officials confirmed that they were negotiating the sale of French weapons to Iraq for the first time since France stopped supplying Saddam Hussein's government in 1990.

The French president called on all European leaders to visit the country, saying that a peaceful Iraq is in Europe's interest.

'I will tell French companies working in Iraq that they must work non-stop,' Sarkozy said.

'Our support will be constant and without meddling (in internal affairs),' the French president added.

Sarkozy's visit is the first by a French head of state since the US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. France had been critical of the invasion at the time, and refused to send any troops to the country.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, bolstered by his State of Law coalition's strong showing in January 31 provincial council elections, had some sharp words for the United States in his press conference as well.

'The time for putting pressure on Iraq is over,' the Iraqi premier told reporters in response to a question about US Vice-President Joe Biden's comments last week that the United States would have to be 'much more aggressive' in resolving political issues in Iraq.

'We have succeeded in solving the problems that (Coalition Provisional Authority head) Paul Bremer created, like taking apart the army,' al-Maliki said.

The remarks also came amid reports that Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki would be visiting Baghdad on Tuesday.

Baghdad's Voices of Iraq news agency on Tuesday quoted an unnamed source 'close to the Iraqi government' as saying that Mottaki would be arriving in Baghdad that day for high-level meetings on strengthening economic ties between the countries, and that the Iranian foreign minister's visit could take several days.

Security has improved in Iraq, but attacks continue almost every day. On Tuesday, a security source told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that a car bomb injured four policemen in Mosul, 400 kilometres north of Baghdad. A second bomb exploded in an eastern neighborhood of the city, but no one was injured.

The attacks in Mosul followed a suicide bombing in the city on Monday that killed four US soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter.

Alluding to this sort of violence at the news conference in Baghdad today, Sarkozy told reporters, 'We want Iraq to look to its future, and not to its painful past which harmed all the Iraqi people.'

The French president will next travel to Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait in a bid to bolster French influence in the region.