By Angela Doland
    The Associated Press

    Monday 27 August 2007

    Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned Monday that it would be "catastrophic" to resort to military force in confronting Iran over its suspect nuclear program.

    "For me, Iran having a nuclear weapon is unacceptable," Sarkozy said in his first major address on foreign policy, but he stressed that he opposed an attack on the Islamic regime and urged that the West rely on diplomacy.

    He said Iran can choose between dialogue with the international community or more U.N. sanctions. "This tactic is the only one that allows us to escape from a catastrophic alternative: an Iranian bomb, or the bombing of Iran," he said.

    Sarkozy also said Iran is entitled to use nuclear power for civilian needs, such as generating electricity.

    If countries like Iran run out of fossil fuels, and "if they don't have the right to the energy of the future, then we will create conditions of misery and underdevelopment, and therefore an explosion of terrorism," Sarkozy said.

    In other areas, the new president signaled a shift in tone from his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, casting himself as a "friend of Israel" and taking a tougher line on Russia and China.

    But despite his admiration for the United States, Sarkozy said Chirac was right to oppose the war in Iraq, which he called a mistake.

    Sarkozy took over from fellow conservative Chirac in May pledging to boost France's international stature. The energetic new leader quickly scored a few high-profile diplomatic coups, such as helping secure freedom for six Bulgarian medical workers jailed in Libya for nine years on charges of deliberately infecting children with AIDS.

    Yet the diplomatic agenda he outlined Monday was relatively modest. He proposed, for example, a committee of great minds to reflect on the future of the European Union - an unassuming proposal for the EU, which Sarkozy nonetheless called France's "absolute priority."

    He also eased his opposition to Turkey's bid for membership in the EU, which he previously vowed to block. On Monday, Sarkozy said he would not oppose new talks with the Muslim state, while adding the discussions should examine the idea of a weaker alliance than membership.

    "A few months after taking the presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy is realizing that he has limited room for maneuvering," said Philippe Moreau-Defarges of the French Institute for International Relations.

    Sarkozy's tough language about China and Russia set him apart from Chirac, who was often criticized for too-cozy ties with authoritarian leaders.

    Sarkozy warned Russia against exercising its energy exports with "brutality." And he said China was "transforming its insatiable quest for raw materials into a strategy of control, notably in Africa."

    While France has a history of close ties with the Arab world, Sarkozy said: "I have the reputation of being a friend of Israel, and it's true. I will never compromise on Israel's security."

    Despite that, he said, the many Arab leaders who have visited him since his election know they can count on his friendship.

    Sarkozy, who spent his summer holiday in New England and whose affection for the U.S. earned him the nickname "Sarko the American," sent his foreign minister to Iraq last week to smooth over ties that were strained when Chirac opposed the U.S.-led invasion.

    But friendly relations do not mean there cannot be differences of opinion, Sarkozy said Monday.

    "France was, and still is, hostile to the war," he said, calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops.

    Though he criticized the U.S. over Iraq, Sarkozy showed his commitment to the security effort in Afghanistan by pledging more troops to train the Afghan army - following months of speculation about France's commitment to that international force.

    Closer to home, Sarkozy reiterated his proposal for a "Mediterranean Union" to bridge the divide between Europe and North Africa. The idea echoes a concept dear to Chirac, who called for a "dialogue of cultures" to counteract the forces of extremism.

    Francois Heisbourg, a leading expert on French strategic and foreign policy, said that even when Sarkozy was sending a message of continuity, his style differed dramatically from Chirac's oratory flourishes.

    Sarkozy is "clear talk - no punches pulled, no dancing around words. This was very deliberate," Heisbourg said.

    "It's a message to the Iranians, but it's also a message to the Russians and the Chinese - that is, that if you want us to have a serious chance to try to avoid getting ... into this awful alternative, you'd better be serious in the Security Council."