Syria will break off contacts with France over the political crisis in Lebanon, Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said during a press conference Wednesday, responding to a similar gesture by Paris three days earlier. "We will have no more contact with Syria ... until we have proof of Syrian willingness to let Lebanon appoint a consensus president," French President Nicholas Sarkozy told reporters during a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak. Moallem accused the French of trying to shoulder Damascus and the Lebanese opposition responsibility for the failure of international efforts to solve the crisis. "We were surprised to hear French President Nicholas Sarkozy saying from Cairo that Syria and the Lebanese opposition are responsible for the failure to establish a solution for the crisis, despite Syria's efforts, which are well known to France and the flexibility shown by the opposition to facilitate a consensual settlement" the top Syrian diplomat said.