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French PM Spells Out Conditions on Joining US Riposte
France will not evade its responsibility in joining the United States military riposte to the terrorist attacks on September 11 if the riposte is " proportional, strategically and militarily justified and politically coherent," French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said on Monday.
"Solidarity with our allies implies consultation," said Jospin at the 54th annual conference of France's Institute of Higher Defense Studies. "The form of our engagement depends on an agreement on the definition of political objectives (of the riposte) and how we resort to force," he said.
The French Premier reaffirmed France's willingness concerning the application of the mutual defense principle of the 19-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which, invoked for the first time since the founding of NATO, committed all member nations to regard the attack against the U.S. as an attack against them all.
However, France remains independent and free on evaluating its military participation, said Jospin.
Jospin also proposed that all countries shoulder the responsibility to eradicate terrorism from international community and the principle of the responsibility of the States should be written into law.
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