France, US bury the hatchet with Sarkozy visit

WASHINGTON: Washington and Paris buried the hatchet on Tuesday as US President George W Bush warmly greeted his French counterpart at the White House, abandoning several years of strained relations over the Iraq war.
 
The pair toasted each other at a black-tie dinner inside the White House as Bush welcomed President Nicolas Sarkozy by saying in French: "Bienvenue a la Maison Blanche."
 
Sarkozy, who arrived on his first official visit to Washington to a red-carpet welcome, said he came with a simple message: "To reconquer the heart of America in a lasting fashion."
 
The evening kicked off with the ritzy meal of Maine lobster bisque and Elysian farm lamb accompanied by Napa Valley wine, and was to be followed on Wednesday by a rare address by a foreign leader to both houses of Congress.
 
In contrast to the last official US visit by a French president in 2001 when Jacques Chirac earned US consternation for hailing France as an antidote to American 'hyperpower,' Sarkozy quipped that one can 'be a friend of America and win election in France!'
 
Elected in May, the leader often called 'Sarko the American' is one of the most pro-US French leaders in decade and clearly aims to show Bush that France has turned a page on the past.
 
Even if the crisis over the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq never led to a complete break in cross-Atlantic cooperation, relations have been notably cool for several years.
 
"France and the United States can meet great challenges when we work together, Mr President," Bush told Sarkozy.