21.   At a meeting on Friday, French civil aviation director Michel Scheller presented EU transport commission director Robert Coleman with a first draft proposal, the spokesman said.

22.   The recall of the ambassador Tuesday followed an announcement in Australia that the French aviation giant Dassault-Breguet had been excluded from bidding for a major defence contract.

23.   The official report included arguments from both Taiwan and French aviation authorities.

24.   The recorder, which was decoded in Bucharest in the presence of a French civil aviation official, was returned to Paris on Wednesday afternoon.

25.   The search took place under the supervision of two judges probing the kickbacks scandal linked to the French aviation group Dassault and the Italian armaments group Augusta.

26.   The statement followed an announcement earlier in Australia that the French aviation giant had been excluded from bidding for a major defence contract.

27.   Two French civil aviation investigators together with a pathologist are currently assisting the enquiry, the State Department said.

28.   Officials from the Romanian transport ministry, the French civil aviation authority, the Airbus consortium and the Belgian military were involved in the probe which resumed earlier Saturday.

29.   The French civil aviation authority warned the action could disrupt planes to and from France, but also airlines travelling through French airspace en route to other destinations.

30.   The French civil aviation authorities were expected to support the case.