The World - News from May 29, 1986

French President Francois Mitterrand said the Reagan Administration, during the U.S. raid on Libya, forgot “we are a sovereign state,” but he emphasized the two countries still enjoy “excellent relations.” Strains developed after France refused permission for U.S. jets to fly through French airspace on the way to bomb Libya on April 15. Mitterrand, a Socialist, also made clear his opposition to reforms proposed by rightist Premier Jacques Chirac and said he might call early parliamentary elections. He commented in an interview, the first since the March 16 elections that put into power a conservative coalition led by Chirac.