Sarkozy seeks 'path of peace' in Mideast tour

(PARIS) - President Nicolas Sarkozy embarks on a two-day four-nation tour of the Middle East on Monday, hoping to rally key players behind a French initiative for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Sarkozy will be the first leader of a major power to visit the region since Israel began its military offensive on December 27 to retaliate against rocket attacks by Hamas, the Palestinian faction that controls the Gaza Strip.

"France will continue to be active in Africa, in Asia and of course in the Middle East where I will go as of Monday, because it is France's duty to look everywhere for the path of peace," Sarkozy said in a New Year's message.

French officials privately say they hope Israel's military campaign will have achieved its goals in the coming days, opening the way for serious discussion on ending the violence.

But they concede a breakthrough is far from certain.

Israel has rejected France's call for a 48-hour ceasefire to allow for humanitarian aid, with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni saying relief supplies were being allowed in Gaza and warning Hamas would use the truce to regroup.

The death toll from the violence has topped 400 with scores of civilians including young children killed and an Israeli ground offensive appeared imminent.

"We would like to reach a humanitarian truce that would lead to a longer-term ceasefire and allow the civilian population in Gaza to have access to humanitarian aid," said French foreign ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier on Friday.

"This is our main concern."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Washington that any ceasefire must be a "durable" one and ensure Hamas will stop firing rockets from Gaza.

Sarkozy will travel to Jerusalem on Monday for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and to the West Bank to show support for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose faction was ousted from Gaza by Hamas in June 2007.

But he will first stop off in Cairo for talks with President Hosni Mubarak. France hopes Egypt can rekindle its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas.

On Tuesday, Sarkozy will try to enlist another key player in the search for peace when he travels to Damascus for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose country hosts exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.

France has no direct contacts with Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States.

With US President George W. Bush taking a diplomatic back seat in the final weeks of his administration, Sarkozy has moved to fill the void after France's six months at the helm of the EU presidency boosted his credentials.

"It is a politically risky trip but it is a risk worth taking," said political analyst Dominique Moisi.

"If the Israelis achieve the objectives they have set for themselves, a ceasefire is absolutely conceivable."

Moisi however cautioned that France had limited leverage in the Middle East and that the new US administration under Barack Obama who takes office on January 20 would remain the pre-eminent power broker.

"Will this trip encourage the US administration under Obama to make the Middle East a priority or on the contrary, will a failure by Sarkozy reinforce the new administration's cautious stance?" he said.

Widely seen as friendlier toward Israel than his predecessor Jacques Chirac, Sarkozy made the first trip to Israel of his presidency in June where he won applause for his tough line on Hamas.

Sarkozy has also sought to consolidate French influence in the Arab world, notably by allowing Syria's Assad to break out of diplomatic isolation with a trip to France in July.