Merkel and Chirac give news conference on MidEast, Iran, Syria

• published: 24 Jul 2015
• views: 15

1.Wide of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Jacques Chirac 2. SOUNDBITE: (French) Jacques Chirac, French President: "My feeling is that the figure that was put forward at the beginning of discussions, which was 15-thousand for a reinforced UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), was a figure that was quite excessive, because if I can be honest I can't imagine that in a territory which is half of the size of a French province we could have 15-thousand Lebanese troops deployed and 15-thousand UNIFIL soldiers deployed. There is a big chance they would be bumping into each other." 3. Cutaway to media 4. SOUNDBITE: (German) Angela Merkel, German Chancellor: I think that it's very important for the UNIFIL mission to be successful so that we can have peace in the region, so that we can work to develop a sovereign, strong Lebanese state that is decisive. And we completely agree that the UNIFIL mission cannot operate on its own but that it is vital for it to be supported by a political process that would resolve the essential conflict issues in the region." 5. Wide Merkel and Chirac. Chirac speaking 6. SOUNDBITE: (German) Angela Merkel, German Chancellor: "We also spoke about the problem of Iran and I have to say that the responses we got (from them) have to be explored, and we have to unfortunately admit that some important facts are not included (in this response), especially as far as the suspension of enriched uranium production, but the door is still open. We want Iran to make it clear to us and accept our proposal and we will use all means and contacts and the UN Secretary General is going to visit Iran and will once again stress the importance of the (UN) resolution and the necessity that Iran has a chance, the chance to develop its economy which is vital for the Iranian people and accept the offer of the international community and not disregard our proposal." 7. Merkel and Chirac 8. SOUNDBITE: (French) Jacques Chirac, French President: "Syria is an old country, an old civilisation. A country that counts and exists and should be respected. It is true that right now, I am not judging it, but its leaders have an attitude that doesn't automatically inspire one with confidence. And that is the problem." 9. People leaving conference STORYLINE: German Chancellor Angela Merkel met French President Jacques Chirac for talks in Paris on Friday, the 62nd anniversary of the liberation of Paris after World War Two. Chirac commented on Lebanon's peacekeeping force saying he does not believe the strengthened UN force needs 15,000 troops, calling that figure excessive. A UN resolution calls for the force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, to expand from 2-thousand troops to up to 15-thousand. Chirac said the territory in question was too small to require that many peacekeepers. "My feeling is that the figure that was put forward at the beginning of discussions - 15-thousand for a reinforced UNIFIL - was a figure that was quite excessive," he told reporters during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. On Thursday, Chirac announced that France would contribute a total of 2-thousand troops to the force. He had initially offered just 200 more troops, in addition to the 200 French peacekeepers already part of the force - far short of the United Nations' expectations for a country with historical ties to Lebanon. European Union foreign ministers were to meet Friday in Brussels to discuss troop contributions, and France's troop announcement was likely to spur other countries to send additional peacekeepers. Chirac's comments suggested that France would press to keep the force smaller than originally expected. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/a04ba1f5f82b8310871628cc1bb0d7e4 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork