MEDIA REACTION REPORT - JAKARTA INTERNATIONAL RELIEF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000114

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR INR/R/MR; IIP/RW; IIP/RNY (FRANK); BBG/VOA; IIP/WEU;
AF/PA; EUR/WE (DEBORAH MENNUTI)/P/SP; D/C (MCCOO); EUR/PA
(BERBENA); INR/P; INR/EUC; PM; OSC ISA FOR ILN; NEA; WHITE
HOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE; DOC FOR ITA/EUR/FR AND PASS USTR/PA
(ANN LUZZATO); USINCEUR FOR PAO; NATO/PA; MOSCOW/PA; ROME/PA;
BRUSSELS/PA; USVIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE.

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR FR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - JAKARTA INTERNATIONAL RELIEF
SUMMIT MIDDLE EAST - PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS TRANSATLANTIC
RELATIONS
PARIS - FRIDAY, JANUARY 07, 2005


(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:


1. JAKARTA INTERNATIONAL RELIEF SUMMIT

2. MIDDLE EAST - PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS

3. TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

LEFT-OF-CENTER LE MONDE CARRIES AN OP-ED BY SECRETARY POWELL
TITLED "DEVELOPMENT AID TO POOR COUNTRIES: A MORAL
OBLIGATION."

THE ELECTIONS IN PALESTINE, THE JAKARTA CONFERENCE AND
MISCELLANEOUS OTHER STORIES ARE FEATURED ON TODAY'S FRONT
PAGES. FOR LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION JAKARTA IS "THE AID
SUMMIT" WHILE RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS HEADLINES "THE UN WILL
OVERSEE RELIEF PLAN." RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO HEADLINES
"DONOR NATIONS WILL HAVE TO HONOR THEIR PLEDGES." WHILE
PATRICK SABATIER IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION WRITES, ABOUT
THE COMPETITION BETWEEN NATIONS, THAT "THE RACE FOR PLEDGES IS
BETTER THAN THE ARMS RACE," IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO
MICHEL SCHIFRES EMPHASIZES THE "GROWING POLITICAL ROLE OF BOTH
CHINA AND INDIA" IN THE REGIONAL RELIEF EFFORT. (SEE PART C)

CATHOLIC LA CROIX AND COMMUNIST L'HUMANITE DEVOTE THEIR LEAD
TO THE ELECTIONS IN PALESTINE. FOR BRUNO FRAPPAT OF LA CROIX,
"THE ELECTIONS, ALONG WITH THE NEW SHARON-PERES GOVERNMENT AND
ARAFAT'S DEATH, PRESENT A NEW WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR THE
REGION." (SEE PART C)

PRESIDENT CHIRAC PRESENTED HIS WISHES TO THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS
ON THURSDAY. HIS REMARKS ON IMPROVING TRANSATLANTIC TIES ARE
ANALYZED IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION. VERONIQUE SOULE
EXPLAINS THAT "WASHINGTON'S MULTILATERALISM, AS SHOWN IN ITS
TURNING TO THE UN IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE IRAQI WAR, DOES NOT
NECESSARILY MEAN A STEP TOWARDS MULTILATERALISM IN GENERAL,
AND ESPECIALLY NOT IN THE MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT." SHE QUOTES
DOMINIQUE MOISI OF IFRI (THE FRENCH INSTITUTE FOR
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS): "FORCED BY REALITIES, WASHINGTON HAS
HAD TO INITIATE A RAPPROCHEMENT WITH EUROPE OVER IRAQ, THE
MIDDLE EAST AND IRAN. BUT RAPPROCHEMENT WITH FRANCE IS LESS
CERTAIN." MOISI PENS HIS OWN COLUMN IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES
ECHOS. (SEE PART C)

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:
JAKARTA INTERNATIONAL RELIEF SUMMIT

"APOCALYPSES"
PATRICK SABATIER IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (01/07): "PUBLIC
OPINION IS WELL AWARE OF THE POLITICAL PUBLICITY APPROACH THAT
LIES BEHIND THE BIG SHOW IN JAKARTA. BUT THE RACE FOR PLEDGES
IS BETTER THAN THE ARMS RACE. THE MOST POSITIVE ELEMENT OF THE
SUMMIT WAS THE FACT THAT THE U.S. GAVE UP ON ITS IDEA TO ROB
THE UN OF ITS NATURAL ROLE. BUT THE QUANTITY OF MONEY PLEDGED
DOES NOT GUARANTEE EFFECTIVENESS. AID MUST BE USED
INTELLIGENTLY, AVOIDING WASTE AND CORRUPTION, TWO FREQUENT
ILLS FOUND WHEN DEALING WITH DISASTER AND IN THESE REGIONS.
OTHERWISE THE APOCALYPSE OF THE TSUNAMI COULD BE FOLLOWED BY
OTHER APOCALYPSES."

"CHINA'S OTHER AWAKENING"
MICHEL SCHIFRES IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO (01/07): "THE
RACE TO GIVE TO THE TSUNAMI SURVIVORS HAS ALSO LED MANY
NATIONS TO CLARIFY THEIR POLITICAL CHOICES AND ORIENTATION.
ONE EXAMPLE IS CHINA. FOR THE FIRST TIME, IN THE WAKE OF A
WORLDWIDE TRAGEDY, CHINA HAS REACTED LIKE ANY OTHER WESTERN
NATION AND ACTED LIKE ANY OTHER DEVELOPED NATION, THUS
REVEALING ITS ASPIRATION TO BECOME PART OF THE CONCERT OF
NATIONS. CHINA, LIKE INDIA, IS PROVING ITS REGIONAL
RESPONSIBILITY IN THE FACE OF THE DISASTER, AND ITS DESIRE NOT
TO LET THE WEST AND JAPAN HAVE A FREE HAND. BEYOND ITS SINCERE
HUMANITARIAN CONCERN, CHINA'S POLITICAL AMBITION IS OBVIOUS."
MIDDLE EAST - PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS
"A TIME FOR HOPE"
BRUNO FRAPPAT IN CATHOLIC LA CROIX (01/07): "IF MAHMUD ABBAS
WINS THE ELECTION. HIS CHALLENGES WILL BE ENORMOUS, BECAUSE IN
THE MIDDLE EAST NOTHING IS EVER SIMPLE. HE WILL NEED TO
EXERCISE VERY STRONG AUTHORITY OVER THE PALESTINIANS TO STOP
THOSE WHO MIGHT STILL BE TEMPTED BY THE USE OF TERROR. THE
OTHER CHALLENGE IS A POLITICAL ONE AND HAS ITS ROOTS IN
ISRAEL. ABBAS MUST PROVE TO THE SHARON-PERES GOVERNMENT THAT
HE IS THE CREDIBLE PARTNER AND VIABLE INTERLOCUTOR THAT ISRAEL
HAS BEEN CALLING FOR. WE ARE ON THE EVE OF SEEING ONE OF THOSE
`WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY' THAT HISTORY SO SELDOM OFFERS."

TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS

"CHIRAC'S SHEEP'S EYES TOWARDS THE U.S."
VERONIQUE SOULE IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (01/07): "THE
DAYS ARE LONG GONE WHEN CHIRAC SPOKE OF THE `ILLEGALITY' OF
THE WAR IN IRAQ. HE IS NOW SPEAKING IN FAVOR OF `THE VITALITY
OF THE TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONSHIP.' TO UNDERSCORE THIS DESIRE
FOR A RAPPROCHEMENT, CHIRAC WILL GO TO WASHINGTON TOWARDS THE
END OF FEBRUARY. AFTER PRESIDENT BUSH TRAVELS TO EUROPE. THIS
IS A GESTURE WHICH PARIS READS AS A SIGN OF WASHINGTON'S MORE
CONCILIATORY ATTITUDE TOWARDS EUROPE AND ITS DESIRE TO
COLLABORATE FURTHER IN ORDER TO RESOLVE INTERNATIONAL CRISES.
SINCE THE IRAQI DISASTER, THE AMERICANS HAVE TURNED TO THE UN
FOR SUPPORT, SOMETHING THAT FRANCE HAS INTERPRETED AS THE
BEGINNING OF A CONVERSION TO MULTILATERALISM. AND FRANCE HAS
TONED DOWN ITS CRITICISM OF WASHINGTON. BUT DOMINIQUE MOISI OF
IFRI BELIEVES THAT WHEN `PARIS TAKES A FEW STEPS FORWARD,
WASHINGTON TAKES A FEW BACK.' NOTHING PROVES THAT WASHINGTON,
WHICH HAS HAD TO GIVE IN TO THE UN IN JAKARTA, IS REALLY READY
TO CONVERT TO MULTILATERALISM, IN PARTICULAR WHEN IT COMES TO
THE MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT."

"BUSH'S INTEREST IN BISMARCK"
DOMINIQUE MOISI OF IFRI IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS (01/07):
"RELIABLE SOURCES IN WASHINGTON INDICATE THAT PRESIDENT BUSH
HAS RECENTLY READ, AND WITH MUCH INTEREST, JOHN GADDIS'S BOOK
`SURPRISE, SECURITY AND THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.' SHOULD
AMERICA'S ALLIES BE CONCERNED OR REASSURED ABOUT THIS
SURPRISING INTEREST FOR BISMARCK'S DIPLOMACY? BISMARCK'S
CHANGE FROM REVOLUTIONARY DIPLOMAT TO CONSERVATIVE MAY SUGGEST
AN EVOLUTION IN THE U.S. DURING BUSH'S SECOND TERM IN OFFICE.
THE U.S. COULD BECOME A `HYBRID:' MORE RADICAL ON THE DOMESTIC
FRONT. AND MORE MODERATE WHEN IT COMES TO FOREIGN POLICY. IN
SPITE OF HIS LACK OF CONSIDERATION FOR THE UN OR HIS NOTED
LACK OF INTEREST FOR HIS ALLIES, PRESIDENT BUSH WILL NEED TO
ACCOUNT FOR THE ALLIES MORE THAN HE DID DURING HIS FIRST TERM.
IF CONDOLEEZZA RICE HAD TO REPEAT HER FAMOUS REMARKS, TODAY
SHE WOULD PROBABLY SAY `LET'S KEEP RUSSIA IN MIND, ACCEPT
GERMANY AND IGNORE FRANCE.' IN SPITE OF FRANCE'S DIPLOMATIC
EFFORTS, THE U.S. IS NOT YET READY TO COMPLETELY FORGET THE
PAST AND LOOK ON PARIS AS A PARTNER WORTHY OF TRUST." LEACH