Paris, May 14, SPA -- The French government on Wednesday called forrestraint on all parties in the standoff between Georgia and Russiaover the breakaway region of Abkhazia, according to dpa. "Like the European Union, France continues to call on all partiesto avoid any initiative that could lead to an escalation," ForeignMinistry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani said in an electronic pressconference. She said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner spoke frequentlywith his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, about the crisis. These discussions, she said, "have allowed us to evoke our worryregarding the situation in Georgia and the necessity to reducetensions." Her comments came after Georgian Minister for Reintegration TemurIakobachvili said earlier Wednesday that Kouchner had prevented a warin Abkhazia through his discussions with Lavrov. Andreani neither confirmed nor denied the report. She said Francesupported "Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity."--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/555922