France Reaffirms Solidarity with US on Sept. 11 Anniversary

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, September 12, 2002

France Reaffirms Solidarity with US on Sept. 11 Anniversary

French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday reaffirmed France's solidarity with the American people one year after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

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French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday reaffirmed France's solidarity with the American people one year after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

"I wish to tell everyone of you, and wish you to tell your compatriots, the friendship, the faithfulness and the solidarity of France," said Chirac at a brief memorial ceremony at the residence of US ambassador to France Howard Leach.

Chirac reaffirmed France's determination to fight against "the international terrorism, barbarism and the forces of hate."

"On this day of anniversary, which is so painful...I wish to pay tribute to the courage, the dignity and the patriotism of the American people," said Chirac.

On his part, the US ambassador said much has been done in past months in the fields of military, security, intelligence, finance and diplomacy.

"But we still have a lot of work before us to free the world from terrorism," Leach added.

Also on Wednesday, religious services were arranged at the American cathedral, Notre Dame cathedral and the Madeleine church in Paris to commemorate the victims of the attacks.

A week after Sept. 11 last year, Chirac was the first head of state to make a post attack visit to Washington. Among the 17 nations that joined the US-led military action in Afghanistan, France contributed a third of the coalition troops and sent its aircraft carrier, the Charles de Caulle.

But in the meantime, France has been one of the harshest critics of Washington's "unilateralism." Latest polls found that amajority in France viewed the United States as a rich and imperialist superpower always in defense of its own interests in the world.

Nor has France hidden its opposition to a US military attack onIraq aimed at toppling the regime of Saddam Hussein. Chirac has repeatedly underlined that the Iraqi crisis must be subject to thedecision of the United Nations Security Council.

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