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French President Nicolas Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy leaves the church of Nativity in Bethlehem on June 24, 2008 as part of Sarkozy's three-day official visit to Israel. Sarkozy spoke out strongly in favour of a Palestinian state after talks with Abbas in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.
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BETHLEHEM (AFP)---French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday sharply criticized Hamas, the Islamist group that seized power in the Gaza Strip last year and launched almost daily rocket attacks on Israel until a truce went into effect on June 19.
"Violence cannot solve the problems. Hamas is very wrong to have acted the way it did. You do not create peace through terrorism. You do not discuss with terrorists,” Sarkozy said after meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, in the West Bank.
“I am not afraid to say what I think. When you behaves like a terrorist, you are a terrorist. You don't redress an injustice through terrorism,” he added during a press conference with Abbas.
Sarkozy, who was winding up a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, said also: "The security of Israel is non-negotiable for France, but the creation of a viable, democratic, modern state for the Palestinians is a priority for France.”
The French president reiterated his call for Israel to stop settlement construction in the West Bank.
"I told our Israeli friends the injustice done to the Jewish people can't be resolved by by creating conditions of injustice for the Palestinian people," Sarkozy said.
He pledged to work toward the creation of a Palestinian state.
"We will use the same strength, the same commitment we used in ensuring Israel's security," said Sarkozy, who on Monday had addressed the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
President Abbas praised Sarkozy, saying: "Your positions, your initiatives are those of a friend. You are a friend, you have the interests of this region at heart."
Sarkozy's call for the creation of a viable Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital drew strong praise from Palestinian media.
"Mr Sarko came with a different politicial speech than (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel and (US President George W.) Bush who tried to outdo each other in lavishing praise on Israel as if it were not the world's last occupation regime," the Al-Hayat Al-Jedida daily said.
Al-Ayyam, another Palestinian newspaper, hailed what it called "the courage he diplayed in criticising settlements and in underlining the Palestinian character of occupied east Jerusalem."
On Monday, Sarkozy told the Knesset that a lasting peace required the creation of a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel with both sharing Jerusalem as their capital.
"There can be no peace without recognising Jerusalem as the capital of two states and the guarantee of freedom of access to the holy places for all religions," he said.
Preparing to head home from Ben Gurion airport, near Tel Aviv, Sarkozy’s departure ceremony was disrupted by a security scare.
A shot rang out when a member of the Israeli guard of honour killed himself in what police said was a suicide.
Bodyguards rushed the French president and first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy to their plane.
