French PM apologises for cowardice jibe
PARIS, June 21 (Reuters) French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, looking to calm a ferocious political storm, apologised today for accusing the leader of the Socialist party of cowardice.
''If certain words personally wounded you, I regret it and I withdraw them,'' Villepin told a packed parliament.
Villepin faced widespread calls to quit yesterday after launching an unusually fierce attack on Socialist leader Francois Hollande during a vitriolic exchange in parliament over industrial policy.
REUTERS SHR HS1857
Comments
Story first published: Wednesday, June 21, 2006, 19:36 [IST]