Sarkozy won't call for Paris climate talks' postponement

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has decided against calling for the upcoming UN climate talks in Paris to be postponed following a wave of deadly attacks on the city, sources close to him said Sunday.

The French government has said the conference, which begins on November 30, will take place as planned, but one of the sources in his centre-right Republicans party said earlier Sunday that Sarkozy would call for it to be delayed because going ahead "would mean taking unbelievable risks".

Sarkozy himself made no mention of the UN climate talks after he had a meeting with President Francois Hollande to discuss the attacks that ripped through Paris on Friday, killing at least 129 people.

But later, one of Sarkozy's inner circle said: "He had questions about it on Saturday... he spoke about this with the president who gave him a full response. He will not ask for COP21 to be postponed."

US President Barack Obama still intends to attend the climate talks, known as COP21 in France, a US official said Saturday.

Obama will be one of more than 115 heads of state and government expected at the talks to be held at Le Bourget outside Paris from November 30 to December 11.

The conference aims to agree a new international pact to fight global warming.

Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012, has re-emerged as a potential centre-right candidate for the 2017 presidential election.