Thursday, August 27, 2009 PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday that international financial system reform, new international order, climate change and energy would be high on agenda for the country's foreign policy. Speaking at an annual conference of French ambassadors and envoys, Sarkozy warned of flaws in the current world financial system and called for financial reforms. Sarkozy said his country had pushed leading banks to implement new rules restricting bonuses for their executives. He also promised to severely punish any breaches, calling on other countries to follow suit. The French president added he was planning to address this topic at next month's Group of 20 (G20) financial summit in the U.S. city of Pittsburgh. In his speech, Sarkozy said the Group of Eight (G8) should be extended to include emerging countries such as China, Brazil, India, South Africa, Mexico and Egypt, making it the Group of 14 (G14). "The Canadian presidency (of G8) in 2010 will conduct the bulk of its summit as the G14, and we intend to totally finish the transformation into the G14 under the French presidency in 2011," he said. Climate change was also a major concern of Sarkozy. He urged the world to take action to prepare for the Copenhagen climate conference in December, calling on developed countries, particularly the United States, to propose specific objects of emission cut. Sarkozy also proposed to establish an international environmental organization to integrate multilateral resources and monitor efforts of implementing the commitments made at the upcoming Copenhagen conference. Regarding energy and ways to avoid sharp fluctuation of oil prices, which will be discussed at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Sarkozy said that France and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would hold a meeting to discuss the civil utilization of nuclear energy. Sarkozy said he regarded it as an adequate solution to the problem of energy shortage. At the end of his speech, Sarkozy expressed hope that the year 2010 would be a year of "profound renovation" for French-African relations. The negotiations of defense cooperation between France and eight African countries would be concluded by the end of this year, he announced.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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