PRO-GOVERNMENT PAPER HAILS FRANCE AS A

UNCLAS HARARE 000357 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS AF/S FOR RAYNOR NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR NEARY NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPAO ZI SUBJECT: PRO-GOVERNMENT PAPER HAILS FRANCE AS A "SUPERPOWER" ¶1. Under headline "The Franco-African summit" the pro-government daily "The Daily Mirror" dedicated its February 20 editorial to hailing France for shooting down plans for a war against Iraq and for inviting Mr. Robert Mugabe to attend the Franco-African summit in Paris, saying "France has a clearer vision of present day international relations than Britain and America." Excerpts follow: ¶2. ". . .Of late, France appears to be gaining an upper hand with its successful stand against Britain over Zimbabwe, in the European Union over Turkey and against the U.S.A. in the U.N. Security Council over war on Iraq. The sum total of all these confrontations appears to lead to the conclusion that France has a clearer vision of present day international relations than Britain and America have. That is why other powerful nations such as Germany, Russia and China are firmly behind France especially on its stance against war on Iraq. Some analysts have even said that there are now two superpowers in the world, the United States on the one hand, and the rest of the world led by France, on the other. And if Mugabe's attendance of the Franco-African summit means that Zimbabwe is aligned to the latter superpower, why not? SULLIVAN