French foreign minister expresses support for Egyptian democracy

Sun, 06 Mar 2011

Cairo - Alain Juppe, France's newly appointed foreign minister, expressed his country's support for Egyptians in their quest for democracy as he visited the Egyptian capital Sunday.

"The Egyptian revolution was truly moving," Juppe said at a press conference in Cairo during his first international trip as foreign minister.

"France is keen for the establishment of democracy and human rights in Egypt," he said.

Juppe said France was willing to support the Egyptian economy in several fields, including tourism.

He added that the French Development Agency was prepared to increase its support for small and medium-sized enterprises in the country.

During his two-day visit, which began on Saturday, Juppe met with the chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who has been in charge of the country since president Hosny Mubarak was ousted last month.

Juppe delivered a letter from French president Nicolas Sarkozy to Tantawi.

He also met with a delegation of opposition activists, including representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Juppe said the Brotherhood representatives claimed to follow a liberal Islam and were keen on upholding democratic principles in the country, adding that dialogue with the group should continue within Egyptian society.

The question of whether France could forgive the debts owed to it by Egypt needed to be studied closely, in order to assess the impact of debt forgiveness on Egypt's credit trustworthiness, Juppe said.

"It is not a positive thing for a country to not repay its debts," he said.

Juppe also met the secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, with whom he discussed the ongoing crisis in neighboring Libya.

"Moamer Gaddafi and his regime have lost all credibility and they must leave," he said.

"We must study the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone," he said, adding that this could only happen with authorization from the United Nations and with the participation of the Arab League and the African Union.

France has been calling for a no-fly zone over Libya, where violence between forces loyal to Gaddafi and anti-government protesters has killed at least hundreds of people over the past three weeks.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/370507,expresses-support-egyptian-democracy.html.