An informal survey suggested that Chileans made up the second largest subset, with Americans and French tied for a distant third.
He reaffirmed French ties with Poland and the "Little Entente" countries and sought new understandings with both Italy and the Soviet Union.
Mr Kouchner long urged a warming of French ties with Rwanda, but it was Claude Guéant, Mr Sarkozy's chief of staff, who went to Kigali last year to make a fresh start.
Seeking to renew and extend French ties with Africa, President Jacques Chirac told African leaders at a summit meeting today that France would be a "tireless advocate" for their interests and a catalyst for their prosperity.
He conceded, though, that he had no proof.In this section Welcome to the circus French favours Fat-trimming needed The cost of cool In the Brussels bunker Correction: Angela Merkel ReprintsIt comes as no surprise that such practices existed in the past, when a mesh of post-war French ties to Africa known as françafrique mixed politics, soldiers, oil money and influence.
Both countries have expressed interest in the Rafale in the past, but an actual purchase would cement the growing importance of French ties to the Middle East particularly on the back of geopolitical tensions with the United States.
The European Commission ordered France to defend its handling of the merger by March 17, saying documents filed by Enel raise questions about how Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin arranged the $40 billion all-French tie-up.
Aventis hopes to block a hostile bid from another French drug firm, Sanofi-Synthélabo, but Novartis is wary of entering the fray because France's government has indicated that it wants an all-French tie-up.Qantas, Australia's leading airline, announced plans for a low-cost airline based in Singapore, whose government will partly finance the joint-venture.
"So I think this is not a visit at the level of friendship between Turkey and France," he said, adding, "Turkey and Turkish-French ties deserve better than that".
Mr Kerry's knowledge of French prompted scorn from the right-wing US press during his unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2004, due to the souring of US-French ties over the war in Iraq.
Once one of the most feared strikers in the world, Falcao has endured a wretched time since rupturing his cruciate ligament in a French Cup tie 19 months ago.
