BEIRUT, 20 October— Dialogue, not war, was what they touted. All of 55 nations were represented at the Francophonie conference in Beirut yesterday. French President Jacques Chirac lectured them on international law and the sacred nature of the United Nations. President Emile Lahoud of Lebanon lambasted America’s double standard — which must have had President George W. Bush shaking in his Texan boots — while delegates were entertained by a Burkina Faso dance troupe.
Even President Abdulaziz Bouteflika turned up from Algeria, a country which has hitherto pointedly ignored the Francophonie conference out of residual anger at France’s colonial rule. And there in the front row was none other than Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Hezbollah resistance group, a man whose organization probably makes Bush shake a lot more than all the rest put together.
Chirac gave his backing to a war "without mercy" against terrorism at the summit, where leaders are also focusing on instability in the Middle East and the Ivory Coast.
But Chirac, whose country has led opposition to a US push in the UN Security Council for a single, quick resolution opening the door to an invasion of Iraq, also argued the fight against terrorism must respect human rights.
"The fight against terrorism will be without mercy," Chirac said in a speech on the second day of the gathering of Francophonie leaders, including 41 heads of state representing more than a quarter of UN member states. "But it should be conducted with respect to human rights and the rule of law," he said at the start of the closed-door deliberations at a luxurious sea front hotel in the Lebanese capital amid tight security.
The summit is to hold closed-door discussions until today when a final declaration will be unveiled. It was meant to be held a year ago but was postponed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States attributed to the Al-Qaeda network. The official spokesman for the summit, Charles Rizk, told reporters the leaders were also discussing the crisis in the Ivory Coast, where a fragile cease-fire appears to be holding between the government and rebels who now control most of the northern half of the country. (The Independent)
