BRUSSELS - Diplomats said Thursday that after months of deep uncertainty and market turmoil France and Germany are backing a joint eurozone and International Monetary Fund bailout program for Greece and other financially troubled members of Europe's currency union. They were speaking on condition of anonymity because details have not been agreed by all 16 nations that use the euro. One diplomat said France and Germany struck a deal "that precisely describes the conditions in which the euro member states intervene" and "goes well beyond Greece." Another diplomat said an agreement could be announced later Thursday at a European Union leaders' summit after markets close. He said it would offer some euro22 billion aid for Greece, combining individual loans from the IMF and eurozone nations. No other officials mentioned an amount. It is now up to European Union President Herman Van Rompuy to call a summit of eurozone leaders possibly later Thursday night to consider the French-German deal, after talks attended by all 27 European Union heads of state. The meeting, still not set, would ask Van Rompuy to draw up detailed plans "before year end to show all the options possible" for bailing out eurozone nations in future. That would include preventive measures and sanctions, a diplomat said. A eurozone summit on Thursday would be only the second time that leaders from the currency zone met separately. They last held talks to decide how to shore up their banking sector during the peak of the financial crisis in October 2008. There is no consensus on how financial aid would be shared out: one diplomat said the eurozone portion would be half but another said it would be the lion's share of a loan package. Spanish government spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said she could not confirm any deal but that Spain which heads most European Union talks as EU president was "hopeful" that a solution could be found at the talks for Greece's debt woes.
