Sarkozy Cautions Against Attack on Iran

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy addresses ambassadors at the opening of the French Ambassadors Conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris Monday, Aug. 27, 2007.(AP Photo/Benoit Tessier/Pool) (Benoit Tessier - AP)

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."

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Associated Press writers Emmanuel Georges-Picot and Antonio Oliveira contributed to this report.