Francois Hollande falls into 'trap' to look like 'dwarf' alongside Coldstream Guards

Francois Hollande has been ridiculed in France for allowing himself to look like a "dwarf" alongside the Coldstream Guards – the battalion that won battle honours at Waterloo and then occupied Paris.

During an official visit to London on Tuesday, the French president inspected a Guard of Honour from the 1st Battalion of the Coldstream Guards at the Foreign Office.

He then appeared in photographs alongside Major General George Norton, who looked around two feet taller than the Gallic head of state.

Comments alongside the image on a website of pictures taken by AFP, France's national news agency, suggested Hollande had fallen into a "trap" made to make him look ridiculous.

"Poor France," wrote Jean-Marc Rameau, from Paris, while Dmitri Kovaley mocked Mr Hollande, who is 5ft 7 ins, with the words "Dwarfs rule the world".

There were also references to Gulliver's Travels, while others noted how the 5ft 5 ins Nicolas Sarkozy, Mr Hollande's predecessor, made huge efforts to disguise his small stature.

These included everything from standing on tiptoe and wooden boxes, as well as wearing stacked heels.

"I find it ridiculous, not because of (Mr Hollande's) size, but because he falls easily into the traps that Sarkozy knew how to avoid," wrote another poster under the name 'Councillor De Mist'.

Sebastien Esteve of Marseilles, meanwhile, suggested that Mr Hollande appeared "smaller than Nicolas Sarkozy" alongside the guardsmen, adding the President wore a "badly cut" suit.

Arguably the greatest military achievement of the Coldstreams was the part they played in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte's army at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

The Coldstreams were part of the 2nd Guards Brigade which famously defended the Hougoumont farmhouse – a key part of the Duke of Wellington's strategy.

Following victory, the regiment then transferred to the French capital, where they humiliated locals further by taking part in the Occupation of the city.

The regiment, the oldest in the regular British Army in continuous active service, defeated the French throughout the Napoleonic Wars, notably in Egypt in the early 19th Century.

Waterloo, which ended Napoleon's reign, is viewed by the French as one their most shameful defeats.

The French dictator became a prisoner of the British on the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena, before dying in captivity in 1821, but he is still glorified all over France as a national hero.

Mr Hollande, a 57-year-old Socialist, has suffered numerous picture disasters since replacing Mr Sarkozy as president last May.

Images include Mr Hollande being soaked to the skin by heavy rain during his official inauguration in Paris.

Mr Hollande spent a short period as an officer in the French Army during a period of national service.

Bashar al-Assad warns Turkey to stop 'interfering' in Syria

Bashar al-Assad has accused Turkey of trying to provoke a sectarian war in Syria by arming “terrorists” intent on overthrowing his regime, marking a new low in relations between the two states.

The Syrian president rounded on Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, calling him “two-faced” and claiming that he was was responsible for many of the estimated 16,000 deaths reported since the uprising began.

“With his desire from the beginning to interfere in our internal affairs he has made Turkey a party to all the bloody acts in Syria,” Mr Assad told Cumhuriyet, a Turkish newspaper.

“Turkey has given all kinds of logistical support to the terrorists killing our people.”

The two states are already engaged in a military stand-off along their 550-mile border after Syria shot down a Turkish reconnaissance jet last month.

Turkey has scrambled its air force three times in recent days after Syrian helicopters flew close to the frontier and has also deployed two armoured brigades and anti-aircraft batteries in the border zone.

Though Mr Assad however was careful to express his regret for the downing of the Turkish fighter, his most vehement denunciation of Turkey since the crisis began heightened tensions and is sure to infuriate Ankara, which has already provided sanctuary to Syrian rebels and allowed smuggled arms to cross its border.

The dispute between the two neighbours has given added urgency to Western efforts to end the crisis by forcing Mr Assad to stand down.

Ratcheting up the pressure on Damascus, William Hague yesterday committed the Government to seeking a Chapter 7 United Nations resolution against Syria, the same type used to remove Col Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, if a new plan for a national unity government failed.

Britain and its allies would however add a sub-clause, article 41, to Chapter 7 that rules out the use of armed force. The resolution would threaten the “complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication”.

The Foreign Secretary warned that Britain and its allies would move quickly to seek stronger action at the UN if the plan agreed by world powers at the weekend for Mr Assad to hand over power came to nought.

In that event, “countries like United Kingdom will be seeking a Chapter 7 resolution at the UN Security Council to mandate the implementation of the Annan plan and threaten consequences for those who do not implement it” he told CNN.

“What I’m talking about in the immediate future or near future that should be in such a resolution is sanctions or the threat of sanctions on those not cooperating,” he said, adding that military force could not be ruled out.

The Annan plan did not name Mr Assad, but called for a national unity government formed “by mutual consent” between regime and opposition figures.

Amid a flurry of diplomatic activitiy, Mr Hague met the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius yesterday. They warned Moscow that its support for Mr Assad was futile and was damaging Russian influence in the Middle East.

“Russia must understand that the situation in Syria is heading toward collapse,” said Mr Hague. “There is no point in anyone standing by the Assad regime.”

Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov meanwhile denied speculation that it would offer the beleaguered Syrian leader a home. “The situation with the future of the president of the Syrian Arab Republic is not being discussed with the United States,” he said.

Western diplomats admitted the Russians had been adamant during the Geneva talks that they wouldn’t play host to Mr Assad.

Last month, rumours circulated that American and British officials might be willing to offer Mr Assad clemency and protection from prosecution by the International Criminal Court if he left his post.