The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Riyadh

French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed holding talks between Iraqi factions in France similar to those it hosted in July for Lebanon, in an interview published Sunday in the Al-Hayat daily. Sarkozy, who begins a three-nation Gulf tour Sunday in Saudi Arabia, proposed "hosting in France, far from the heat of passions and on neutral territory, inter-Iraqi roundtable talks that are as large as possible." "It is up to the parties involved to decide what steps to take next," he was quoted as saying in the London-based Saudi daily. It is not the first time France has offered to hold such talks for Iraq. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner proposed holding such talks last August during a visit to Baghdad, according to French diplomats, and Sarkozy said the offer was made again in November in Istanbul at a ministerial meeting of countries neighboring Iraq. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani declined the August offer.