France looks for bigger role in ME peace

Foreign Minister Michel Barnier acknowledged as much when he said Friday that France took in the late Palestinian Authority president because of longstanding ties.

"We welcomed him as we would have welcomed any leader who is a friend to France," he told Europe 1 radio in an interview from Cairo, where he attended a funeral service for Arafat alongside other foreign dignitaries.

"It's simply a question of humanity. It's also proof of the ties that have long existed between the Palestinian people, their leader and our country," he said.

French President Jacques Chirac personally made the decision to allow Arafat to fly to Paris on October 29 for emergency treatment of a serious illness that has not been publicly revealed.

The 75-year-old Palestinian leader was declared dead Thursday at the French military hospital treating him days after falling into a coma and being put on life-support machines.

France, with its veto power on the UN Security Council, five-million-strong Muslim community and regular dealings with Arab countries, has traditionally been seen as the only sympathiser of the Palestinian cause with the weight to challenge the pro-Israeli leanings of the United States.

Through the European Union, it has a place in the so-called international "quartet" sponsoring Middle East peace, alongside the United States, Russia and the United Nations.

In recent years, though, France's influence has been muted, particularly as US President George W. Bush's administration sided with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plans to withdraw his troops from Gaza while ignoring negotiations with the Palestinians.