TOGO: BARNIER AND DE BONNECORSE ATTEND EYADEMA'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001806 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/17/2015 TAGS: PREL PGOV TO FR SUBJECT: TOGO: BARNIER AND DE BONNECORSE ATTEND EYADEMA'S FUNERAL REF: LOME 261 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Nathalie Delapalme, FM Barier's Africa advisor, told us March 15 that Barnier had met briefly with Faure Gnassingbe and "other Togolese personalities" while representing France at the funeral of President Gnassingbe Eyadema (reftel). Delapalme would not be drawn out on the substance of Barnier's discussions, preferring to note that Michel de Bonnecorse, President Chirac's African affairs advisor, had arrived in Lome 48 hours before Barnier. ¶2. (C) In an earlier meeting, MFA AF PDAS-equivalent Elisabeth Barbier told PolMinCouns that the GoF viewed the fixing of the election date as providing focus for the parties and was not "too soon." Barbier reiterated France's strong support for the ECOWAS position on Togo. ¶3. (C) COMMENT: As indirectly suggested by Delapalme, it is likely that France's position on Togo following Eyadema's death and during the electoral period is being managed largely by the Presidency's Africa cell. END COMMENT. Leach