PARIS, Nov 13: French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday invited an audience to compare his leadership during the Georgia-Russia crisis to that of outgoing US President George Bush — a day before the pair are due to meet at a Washington G20 summit.

“When on Aug 8 someone had to leave for Moscow or Tbilisi, who defended human rights?” Sarkozy asked rhetorically, at a ceremony in the Elysee palace as he accepted a prize for “political courage” handed out by Politique Internationale magazine.

“Was it the president of the United States who said: ‘This is unacceptable’? Or was it France which kept up dialogue” between Russian and Georgian leaders, he asked.

Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in August after Tbilisi tried to retake its separatist South Ossetia region by force. Sarkozy brokered a ceasefire deal to end the hostilities.

“I remember the American president’s call the day before our departure for Moscow: ‘Don’t go there, they (the Russians) want to go to Tbilisi, they’re 40 kilometres away. Don’t go, (just) condemn it’.

“We were there with (foreign minister) Bernard Kouchner, as if by chance while we were there, the ceasefire was announced,” he said as he accepted the prize, which has previously gone to the late pope John Paul II.

Sarkozy was due to fly to the United States on tomorrow to Bush and other world leaders at a summit to discuss the financial crisis.

The French president used his speech to praise other foreign policy initiatives undertaken by France since he came to power in May last year.

“If we had not taken risks for peace and for the rights of the Lebanese by inviting (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad, there would still be war in Lebanon,” he said.

Assad returned to the international fold when he was invited to Paris in July. Syria had previously been isolated by the international community since the 2005 murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri widely blamed on Damascus.

Sarkozy also said his policies were directly responsible for the release in July of Ingrid Betancourt.

Betancourt, a French-Colombian politician, was released along with 14 other hostages after being held by Colombia’s FARC rebels for more than six years.

“Was there any chance of getting her out if France had not made Ingrid Betancourt a main objective of its policies? None,” said Sarkozy.

The president also said that it was thanks to France that six Bulgarian medics were freed a year ago after almost a decade jailed in Libya.—AFP