HAITI: France and the United States, who fell out over war in Iraq, are making up over a Caribbean island where both have an interest in restoring order.They reflected on the improvement in relations yesterday after their pressure helped force Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide into exile.
"I think we can talk of exemplary co-operation with the United States in this crisis," said French Foreign Minister Mr Dominique de Villepin, who discussed events in Haiti several times last week with US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell.
France opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq last year, saying such intervention required United Nations backing, and a long chill in relations followed.
But Paris and Washington have been trying to rebuild trust in recent months, deciding they need each other on many international issues such as the fight against terrorism.
France has even said it may be ready to send troops to ensure security in Iraq - if the request comes from a sovereign Iraqi government and has UN approval.
"You can say the decisions taken by France on Haiti go hand in hand with other decisions taken recently which show a desire to turn the page," said Mr Jean-Jacques Kourliandsky of the Institute of International and Strategic relations in Paris.
France sought protection for the 2,000 French nationals in Haiti, its former colony. The US wanted to avert trouble close to home.
Both sides seemed happy Mr Aristide had gone far away to the Central African Republic after fleeing Haiti. France took in former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier after he was ousted in an uprising in 1986 and he still lives in France.
Despite the combined US-French diplomatic effort and the arrival in Haiti of French troops and US marines, problems still lie ahead in the poorest country in the Americas.
Franco-US relations remain fragile - as underlined by a new spat when the EU imposed sanctions on US goods yesterday. - (Reuters)