Did Chirac say what AFP heard?
Versions differ over Malaysian comments
By John Vinocur (IHT)
Thursday, July 24, 2003

PARIS: When two virulent opponents of American involvement in Iraq like President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad of Malaysia get together, the language of disapproval of U.S. policy normally gets a full workout. But this was a notch above standard.

Chirac, in Putrajaya on Monday to receive the Kuala Lumpur World Peace Award from Mahathir, said, according to Agence France-Presse, that the world could no longer submit to the law of the jungle and needed to create an international organization that could eliminate unilateralism.

For Chirac, what was required instead, according to the report in AFP's French-language service, "is an international structure, an international mechanism that can do away with unilateralism and bring multilateralism."

"We can no longer accept the law of the strongest, the law of the jungle," Chirac was quoted as saying.

The French news agency in turn attributed its version of Chirac's remarks to the official translator during award ceremonies in conjunction with Chirac's prize.

In the carefully measured vocabulary of official French criticism of the United States - not specifically mentioned by Chirac - the nonetheless clear juxtaposition of America with "law of the jungle" would be something new and evocative