Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05PARIS196
2005-01-11 12:29:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Paris
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION REPORT - MIDDLE EAST - PALESTINIAN

Tags:  OPRC KMDR FR 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000196 

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 - MIDDLE EAST - PALESTINIAN
ELECTION SUDAN PEACE ACCORD TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS
PARIS - TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2005


(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000196

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 - MIDDLE EAST - PALESTINIAN
ELECTION SUDAN PEACE ACCORD TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS
PARIS - TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2005


(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:


1. MIDDLE EAST - PALESTINIAN ELECTION

2. SUDAN PEACE ACCORD

3. TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

A VARIETY OF SUBJECTS ARE FEATURED BOTH IN LEAD STORIES AND IN
EDITORIALS, INCLUDING DOMESTIC POLITICAL STORIES AND REPORTS
ON THE DIFFICULTIES FOR THE TSUNAMI RELIEF EFFORT TO REACH
AFFECTED AREAS. ONE MAJOR FRONT-PAGE STORY REMAINS THE
ELECTION OF MAHMUD ABBAS AND THE TASK AT HAND, FOR HIM, SHARON
AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. IN HIS RADIO COMMENTARY
BERNARD GUETTA CONTENDS THAT "AMERICANS AND EUROPEANS NEED TO
SPEAK AS ONE." IN HIS EDITORIAL IN CATHOLIC LA CROIX BRUNO
FRAPPAT IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT 2005, THANKS IN PART TO THE
PALESTINIAN ELECTION, BUT ALSO "DEMOCRACY IN UKRAINE AND A
PEACE ACCORD IN SUDAN." (SEE PART C)

THE PEACE ACCORD REACHED IN SUDAN IS HERALDED BY LEFT-OF-
CENTER LIBERATION AS "SECRETARY POWELL'S LEGACY" AND AN "ANTI-
IRAQ." (SEE PART C)

IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER ECONOMIC LES ECHOS ESSAYIST LAURENT COHEN-
TANUGI WRITES A COLUMN TITLED "TWO VISIONS OF THE WORLD" WHICH
MAKE UP "THE BACKDROP LANDSCAPE OF THE RECENT TRANSATLANTIC
AND INTRA-EUROPEAN TENSION." HE IS OPTIMISTIC THAT PRESIDENTS
BUSH AND CHIRAC CAN FIND GROUNDS FOR AGREEMENT. (SEE PART C)

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

MIDDLE EAST - PALESTINIAN ELECTION

"THE FRAILTY OF A GREAT HOPE"
BERNARD GUETTA ON GOVERNMENT-RUN FRANCE INTER RADIO (01/11):
"IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HOPE FOR THE SETTLEMENT
OF THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT HAS NEVER BEEN SO GREAT.
ONE MUST ALSO DEFINE UNDER WHICH CONDITIONS THIS MEASURE OF
HOPE WILL BECOME REALITY. AFTER THE INITIAL EUPHORIA, THE
DIFFICULTIES WILL BEGIN TO EMERGE. UNLESS THE WORLD TAKES OVER
THE PEACE EFFORT, THIS OPPORTUNITY COULD BECOME A MISSED
OPPORTUNITY. THE U.S. AND THE EU MUST BOTH ACT, BUT IN WHAT
WAY? THE URGENCY DOES NOT LIE IN TRYING TO ACCELERATE CHANGES
THROUGH AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE; MENTALITIES NEED TIME IN

ORDER TO ADAPT TO CHANGES. BUT MEANWHILE THE U.S. AND THE EU
MUST SPEAK AS ONE AND REAFFIRM TOGETHER DURING THEIR FEBRUARY
SUMMIT THE OBJECTIVES OF THE ROADMAP, INCLUDING THE CREATION
OF A PALESTINIAN STATE AND THE RECOGNITION OF ISRAEL BY THE
ARAB WORLD."

SUDAN PEACE ACCORD

"PEACE UNDER U.S. PATRONAGE"
CHRISTOPHE AYAD IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (01/11): "IT IS
COLIN POWELL'S LEGACY. THE PEACE AGREEMENT REACHED IN SUDAN IS
PROOF THAT ONE CAN BRING A ROGUE STATE TO REPENT WITHOUT
HAVING TO RESORT TO EITHER ADVENTURE OR WAR. THIS IS A SORT OF
ANTI-IRAQ, EVEN IF THERE WAS NO COMMON MEASURE BETWEEN SUDAN'S
ISLAMIC-PRAGMATIC REGIME AND SADDAM HUSSEIN'S REGIME. SUDAN'S
LEADERS, LIKE COLONEL KADAFFI, SOON LEARNED THAT THEY COULD BE
ON THE RECEIVING END OF PRESIDENT BUSH'S ANTI-TERRORIST
CRUSADE AND ACCEPTED TO GO TO THE NEGOTIATIONS TABLE SET BY
SPECIAL ENVOY JOHN DANFORTH. THE SUDANESE PEACE AGREEMENT WILL
MOST PROBABLY BE PRESENTED BY PRESIDENT BUSH AS A NEW VICTORY
IN HIS CRUSADE OF GOOD AGAINST EVIL."

TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS

"TWO VISIONS OF THE WORLD"
LAURENT COHEN-TANUGI IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LES ECHOS (01/11):
"THERE ARE TWO VISIONS OF THE WORLD CONFRONTING EACH OTHER.
THE FIRST, CLEARLY EXPOSED BY FRENCH DIPLOMACY, CLAIMS THAT
TODAY'S IMBALANCE STEMS FROM THE U.S. POSITION AS SOLE WORLD
POWER, WHICH GENERATES NEFARIOUS UNILATERALISM AND UNDERMINES
THE MULTIPOLAR ORDER EMBODIED BY THE UN. THE REMEDY TO THIS
STRUCTURAL IMBALANCE IS TO FAVOR THE EMERGENCE OF NEW POLES OF
POWER THAT CAN SERVE AS COUNTERWEIGHTS FOR AMERICA'S
SUPREMACY, SUCH AS THE EU. THE OTHER OPPOSING VISION RESULTS
FROM A DIFFERENT ANALYSIS OF EVENTS POST THE COLD WAR AND
9/11. THE WORLD, ACCORDING TO THIS ANALYSIS, IS THREATENED BY
GROWING DISORDER, AS ILLUSTRATED BY TERRORISM, ISLAMIC
FUNDAMENTALISM, NUCLEAR ARMS PROLIFERATION AND THE BIRTH OF
NEW ECONOMIC, POLITICAL AND MILITARY POWERS WHICH ARE STRONGLY
NATIONALISTIC, LACK DEMOCRATIC TRADITIONS, AND ARE THEREFORE
IN OPPOSITION TO WESTERN VALUES. THIS VISION PROMOTES THE IDEA
OF CONCENTRATING THE WEIGHT OF WESTERN DEMOCRACIES, AND FAVORS
IN PRIORITY SOLIDARITY BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE U.S. . THESE TWO
VISIONS ARE RADICALLY OPPOSED. AND DEEPLY INGRAINED IN
NATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL SENSIBILITIES. NEVERTHELESS THERE ARE
PRAGMATIC CONSIDERATIONS OVER WHICH BOTH SIDES CAN AGREE:
EUROPE WILL HAVE ALL THE MORE INFLUENCE ON THE U.S. IF IT IS
UNITED AND STRONG; RE-ENFORCING THE TRANSATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP
IS NOT A HOSTILE MOVE AGAINST THE REST OF THE INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY, INCLUDING THE ARAB-MUSLIM WORLD; THE MORE THE EU
EXPANDS AND DEVOTES ITSELF TO STABILIZING ITS DISTANT SHORES,
THE MORE IT WILL BE DEPENDENT ON AMERICAN MILITARY
CAPABILITIES TO INSURE ITS SECURITY AND DEFEND ITS VALUES
ACROSS THE WORLD. PRESIDENTS BUSH AND CHIRAC SHOULD FIND SOME
COMMON GROUND FOR AGREEMENT OVER THESE FEW ISSUES." LEACH