PARIS?? French President Nicolas Sarkozy told U.S. President Barack Obama last week he was fed up with dealing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and considered him a "liar."
Sarkozy made the comment during a private conversation with Obama during a G20 summit in the French riviera town of Cannes last week and the remarks were overheard by a small number of journalists but not initially reported.
"I cannot bear Netanyahu, he's a liar," Sarkozy told Obama during a frank exchange as the U.S. president took him to task for backing a Palestinian request for membership of the U.N. cultural heritage agency UNESCO.
According to the French interpreter, Obama responded, "You are sick of him, but I have to work with him every day."
The journalists heard only fragments of the leaders' conversation, via headsets that were to be used for simultaneous translation of an upcoming news conference.
Obama, whose remarks were heard via a French translation, was not heard objecting to Sarkozy's characterization of Netanyahu.
Deemed private
Several French-speaking journalists, including one from The Associated Press and another from Reuters, overheard the comments but did not initially report them because Sarkozy's office had asked the journalists not to turn on the headsets until the press conference began, and the comments were deemed private under French media traditions.
"By the time the (media) services at the Elys?e (French presidential palace) realized it, it (the microphone) was on for at least three minutes," one journalist told the website, according to the Israeli site Ynetnews.com.
A French website that analyzes media coverage of current affairs, Arret sur Images, reported the remarks Tuesday.
Sarkozy's office would not comment Tuesday on the remarks, or on France's relations with Israel.
The White House and Netanyahu's spokesman also said they had no comment.
In their quest for statehood recognition, the Palestinians have requested membership of the over-arching United Nations system, in addition to its Paris-based UNESCO subsidiary.
France voted in favor of a UNESCO request that succeeded but said last week it would abstain in any vote on membership of the over-arching U.N. system, which Washington has vowed to veto.
Paris and Washington are urging renewed peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45203597/ns/world_news-europe/
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