President Nicolas Sarkozy heads to Washington on Tuesday for a trip during which France and the United States aim to put their rift over the Iraq war definitively behind them, his spokesman said."The aim of this trip is to seal the renewal of ties between France and the United States following the crisis of 2003 and to send a message to the American people through the president's speech to Congress," David Martinon told reporters.
Relations between Paris and Washington deteriorated sharply under Sarkozy's predecessor Jacques Chirac who spearheaded global opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq.
During the two-day visit, his first official trip to Washington since being elected in May, Sarkozy is to hold talks with US President George W. Bush as well as deliver a speech to the US Congress.
The two leaders will dine at the White House, followed by a visit to Mount Vernon, the home of the first US president George Washington.