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Minister Bernard Kouchner, the foreign minister of France, welcomed on Sunday an ease of tension between Israel and its surrounding Arab neighbours during his visit to Damascus and Beirut. The French foreign minister urged the nations involved to respect the 2006 ceasefire in Lebanon.

“Nobody is speaking of tension any more, and so this tension has eased”, he said during a news conference held in Beirut after meetings with Syrian and Lebanese leaders. The French diplomat said he was “rather reassured”.

Kouchner has the US-meditated indirect talks between the Palestinians and Israelis to thank for. He also gave credit to the “clarification” of the controversial nuclear programme of Iran.

“We cannot be resigned to a constant state of tension, even if it is decreasing”, he said to journalists while on his plane bound to Beirut after talks in Damascus early on Sunday with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

Kouchner held talks in Beirut with Prime Minister Saad Hariri and President Michel Sleiman before heading to Cairo to talk with his Spanish and Egyptian counterparts, Miguel Angel Moratinos and Ahmed Abul Gheit.

“Minister Kouchner informed the president that his regional tour aims to ease recent tension, which began to decline over the past few days especially as concerns Israel’s threats”, explained Sleiman’s office at the end of the meeting.

The French foreign minister, who informs reporters with him during his travel, renewed a call for all parties to respect UN Security Council Resolution 1701. The resolution ended a 2006 month-long war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

The French government immediately called for Iran’s consideration on Wednesday regarding the detention of director Jafar Panahi, as the filmmaker has been invited to be part of the Cannes film festival’s jury.

“He is one of the most eminent representatives of Iranian film and his place is at the festival where he has been invited as a member of the jury”, said in a joint statement by Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

The 49-year-old director has been staying at the Evin prison in Tehran since he was arrested on 1 March by Iranian authorities due to his attempt to tackle the much-disputed presidential election in the country during 2009 in a recent film he was working on.

“We call for his immediate release and urge the Tehran authorities to respect the fundamental right of Iranians to freedom of expression and creativity”, added the two ministers.

The appeal came upon the launch of the spectacular film event in Cannes. The jury, which supposedly include the Iranian detainee, was headed by Tim Burton. The festival’s jurors are set to present the much-coveted Palme d’Or prize on 23 May during the gala in the southern Riviera resort.

Some of Panahi’s works are ‘The Circle’, for which he won the 2000 Venice Golden Lion award; and ‘Offside’ and ‘Crimson Gold’, which gained him 2006 Silver Bear at the Berlin film festival.

Meanwhile, in an appeal by Amnesty International on Tuesday, the organisation requested to allow Panahi to attend the festival.

“An empty chair at the Cannes Film Festival… will highlight the folly and injustice of Iran’s crackdown on those who have peacefully criticised the government”, it said in a statement.

The tensions between Colombia and Ecuador should be lessened to pave the way for the release of several hostages held by guerillas in Colombia. The group has been hiding the hostages in jungle camps for so many years.

The Foreign Minister of the French, Bernard Kouchner told the reporters at Quito that the diplomatic argument of the Andean neighbours has made the negotiations more difficult.

“Tensions need to be eased … to find a humanitarian solution to the release of the hostages,” said Kouchner after meeting with President Rafael Correa of Ecuador.

Hopes for the release of the hostages dimmed after the military in Colombia bombed a camp of rebels in Ecuador on March that killed the head of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Correa revealed that the attack on March 1 disrupted the talks with the FARC rebels to free Betancourt together with the 11 hostages.

Kouchner shared that his country was looking for mediators to make a deal with the kidnappers to grant freedom to the hostages, one of which is Ingrid Betancourt a politician with French and Columbian background. Betancourt’s suffering during captivity has received great attention.

Earlier this month, the FARC rejected the medical mission of the French that aims to treat Betancourt who is reportedly suffering from hepatitis.

The Foreign Minister is currently touring three nations. He met Alvaro Uribe, President of Columbia on Monday and then he plans to meet Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan leader who assisted in the release of six hostages early this year.