19673: Lemieux: Reuters: Bush Calls Chirac to Thank France on Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>

Bush Calls Chirac to Thank France on Haiti
Tue Mar 2, 2004 11:35 AM ET

PARIS (Reuters) - President Bush telephoned French
President Jacques Chirac Tuesday to hail their countries'
cooperation over the Haiti crisis, the latest sign of a
gradual thaw in U.S.-French relations.
France and the United States, which fell out last year over
Paris's opposition to the U.S.-led Iraq war, led pressure
on Haiti President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to step down and
have sent troops to restore order after an armed rebellion.

Bush called "to hail the excellent U.S.-French cooperation
on Haiti and thank France for its efforts," Chirac
spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said, adding that Chirac also
expressed his satisfaction about the tight coordination of
their diplomacy.

Bilateral U.S.-French relations hit a low last year. Some
top U.S. officials asked whether France still considered
itself an ally and said it could expect punishment for the
way it conducted its anti-war campaign.

Since then France has promised substantial debt relief for
Iraq once power has been handed over to a sovereign
government and Washington has relented on an initial ban on
French firms bidding for major reconstruction contracts
there.

Relations are still dogged by differences in areas such as
trade, which prompted new European Union sanctions Monday.

Bush has not yet accepted an invitation to attend
ceremonies in Normandy this June marking the 60th
anniversary of the D-Day landings, but a German official
visiting Washington this week said it was clear Bush would
go to the high-profile event.


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