Jacques Chirac’s death Guardian reports: The former French president Jacques Chirac, a self-styled affable rogue who had one of the longest political careers in Europe, has died aged 86. For several years he had suffered from memory loss said to be linked to a form of Alzheimer’s disease or to the minor stroke that he had […]
Jacques Chirac’s death
Guardian reports: The former French president Jacques Chirac, a self-styled affable rogue who had one of the longest political careers in Europe, has died aged 86.
For several years he had suffered from memory loss said to be linked to a form of Alzheimer’s disease or to the minor stroke that he had while in office.
Jacques Chirac, who was head of state from 1995 to 2007, boasted one of the longest continuous political careers in Europe – twice president, twice prime minister and 18 years as mayor of Paris.
Although his time as president was marked by inaction and political stagnation, and despite having left France just as divided and struggling with mounting debt, inequalities and unemployment as he had found it, his debonair persona meant that in retirement he was embraced as one of France’s favorite politicians.
Jacques Chirac will be remembered internationally for leading France’s strong opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, when approval ratings for his anti-war stance in France soared to 90%. “War is always a last resort. It is always proof of failure. It is always the worst of solutions, because it brings death and misery,” he said a week before the US-led coalition forces invaded Iraq. He warned that any occupation of Iraq would prove a “nightmare”.
Irannews covered reports of some Chirac’s comments on Iran. During Jacques Chirac’s presidency he had some comments about Iran’s nuclear affairs. As reporters’ found, in 2006 he claims Iran nuclear power is of no danger. As he quotes:
“I would say that what is dangerous about this situation is not the fact of having a nuclear bomb, having one or perhaps a second bomb a little later, well, that’s not very dangerous. But what is very dangerous is proliferation. This means that if Iran continues in the direction it has taken and totally masters nuclear-generated electricity, the danger does not lie in the bomb it will have, and which will be of no use to it.”
But in later comments reports say he claims nuclear-armed Iran might be inevitable and that it could try to sell the technology to other countries.
He fears that Saudi Arabia and Egypt may follow the path and try to have their own weapons.
- source : Guardian, irannewsdaily.com
