- Title: 'He tried to bring people together', Bill Clinton says of Chirac
- Date: 30th September 2019
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 30, 2019) (AGENCY POOL) FRENCH AND EUROPEAN FLAGS TIED WITH BLACK RIBBONS FORMER FRENCH PRESIDENT, FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, LEAVING FORMER FRENCH PRESIDENT, NICOLAS SARKOZY, LEAVING LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER, SAAD AL-HARIRI, LEAVING FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT, BILL CLINTON, SPEAKING WITH FORMER SPANISH PRIME MINISTER, JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO / FORMER AFGHAN PRESIDENT, HAMID KARZAI, GREETING CLINTON AND ZAPATERO / KARZAI LEAVING CLINTON SPEAKING TO ZAPATERO / ZAPATERO LEAVING / CLINTON WALKING DOWN STEPS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT, BILL CLINTON, SAYING: (AUDIO AS INCOMING) "Always very French, very protective of French interests but in a way that brought people together and not drove them apart. I mean look who came today, he (Jacques Chirac) tried to bring people together." PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT, BILL CLINTON, SAYING: (AUDIO AS INCOMING) "Well I also remember that in addition to what you know, that he was... our alliance through NATO made it possible to end the Balkan wars, to keep Kosovo from becoming a target of ethnic slaughter." DJIBOUTI PRESIDENT, ISMAIL OMAR GUELLEH, LEAVING CONGO REPUBLIC PRESIDENT, DENIS SASSOU NGUESSO, LEAVING
- Embargoed: 14th October 2019 16:11
- Keywords: Jacques Chirac France former French president Elysee palace Bill Clinton
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001AYUONRB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: PLEASE NOTE: PART AUDIO AS INCOMING
World leaders, past and present, left the Elysee presidential palace on Monday (September 30) after a lunch hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron following a funeral service for late French leader Jacques Chirac who died last week aged 86.
Chirac, who served as president from 1995 to 2007, was feted by many French people for asserting their country's role as a global player, a stance that put him at odds with Washington over the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Former United States president Bill Clinton spoke fondly of Chirac as he left the Elysee palace.
"(Chirac was) always very French, very protective of French interests but in a way that brought people together and not drove them apart. I mean look who came today, he tried to bring people together," he said.
Chirac was buried at the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris, in a plot next to his daughter Laurence, who died in 2016.
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