Anglo-French summit back on

Smiles again: Blair and Chirac back on good terms

An Anglo-French summit which was postponed after a row between Tony Blair and the French President, Jacques Chirac, has been rescheduled.

The two leaders set a date for 4 February 2003 during a telephone call on Friday afternoon.

The prime minister also wished the president happy 70th birthday, a Downing Street spokesman said.

Mr Blair and Mr Chirac had reportedly fallen out over farming subsidies and Iraq at an EU summit in Brussels last month.

Jacques Chirac is a 'great man' in every sense of the term

Tony Blair

It led to the French president postponing a planned Anglo-French summit.

Friday's development comes after Mr Blair launched a charm offensive this week - penning a tribute to Mr Chirac.

In the letter, published on Thursday in French weekly Paris Match, the UK Prime Minister calls Mr Chirac a "great man".

And he describes the French President as a tenacious fighter with an admirable capacity for defending his nation's interests.

'Turbulence'

At the Brussels summit, the pair reportedly had a blazing row over EU farm subsidies, with the French President later complaining he had never been spoken to so rudely.

Downing Street admitted there had been some "turbulence" at the meeting.

The row marked a low point in Anglo-French relations under Mr Blair, who has attempted to cultivate a close relationship with what he regards as a key European partner.

In his Paris Match letter, which was originally written in French, Mr Blair writes: "As I have good reason to believe, Jacques Chirac is not the type to become a quiet seventy-year-old.

"Thank goodness! Among his many assets, he has, like (General Charles) de Gaulle, 'a certain idea of France'.

"He fights for her, with tenacity, skill, and sometimes he even considers there are no holds barred."

Birthday gift

The two leaders were said to have had several friendly conversations at a NATO summit in Prague last week.

All smiles: Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac the day before "le row"

And sources close to Mr Chirac said Mr Blair gave the French president a "superb" fountain pen as a birthday gift.

Mr Blair keeps up the charm offensive in his letter.

"Jacques Chirac is a 'great man' in every sense of the term, and he knows perfectly well how to combine the values of democracy and the role that France must play in the world. I respect that," he writes.