Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has turned down an invitation by French President Chirac to visit Paris. According to Haaretz, the Prime Minister's Office said that Sharon had had to decline the invitation as a July visit would fall to close to the "disengagement" from Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, which is set to begin in August.
The presidential palace demanded an explanation from Sharon last year for branding France the home of the "wildest anti-Semtism" and calling on French Jews to move to Israel "as early as possible." These comments led Chirac to declare that Sharon was "not welcome" in France.
