Iraq's Prime Minister Iyad Allawi warned France against appeasing insurgents in order to secure the release of two of its nationals held hostage in the country as he prepared to travel to Brussels.
"France is bogged down by the past," said Allawi responding to a question by reporters on France's support for a conference by Iraqi civil society groups to be held in parallel to an official meeting on Iraqi elections scheduled for the end of the month in Egypt.
"France must revise its policies towards Iraq because its actions and statements are driven by the fact two Frenchmen are hold hostage in Iraq." …
"The government is successfully building an international consensus to help Iraq face its difficulties," he said.
"This is why terrorists are targeting foreigners and trying to persuade some foreign governments to recognise them as legitimate political actors."
Following a botched attempt by a French member of parliament to save the hostages in September, France has said that it was supportive of the idea that some elements of the insurgency would attend the Egypt conference.
"Iraq's political forces will decide who attends the conference," Allawi said.
(Thanks to Gregory Schreiber)
Meanwhile, here is more on the Saddam WMD's Syrian connection
(although it does seem to be months old and I cannot vouch for the origin)
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