MEDIA REACTION REPORT - TRIBUTE TO JOHN PAUL II UN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002245

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR FR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - TRIBUTE TO JOHN PAUL II UN
REPORT: ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY
PARIS - TUESDAY, APRIL 05, 2005


(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:


1. TRIBUTE TO JOHN PAUL II

2. UN REPORT: ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

TRIBUTE TO JOHN PAUL II CONTINUES TO BE TODAY'S OVERWHELMING
FRONT PAGE AND EDITORIAL STORY. SEVERAL REPORTS NOTE THAT THE
PRESIDENT AND MRS. BUSH WILL ATTEND FRIDAY'S FUNERAL. LE
FIGARO TITLES: "THE FIRST U.S. PRESIDENT TO ATTEND A POPE'S
FUNERAL." "THE EXCEPTIONAL PRESENCE OF A U.S. PRESIDENT IS
PROOF OF THE VERY UNIQUE RELATIONSHIP WHICH JOHN PAUL II
ESTABLISHED WITH THE U.S., WHICH HE VISITED SEVEN TIMES." IN A
SEPARATE STORY TITLED "BACHAR EL-ASSAD, THE UNEXPECTED GUEST,"
PIERRE PRIER COMMENTS: "THE SYRIAN PRESIDENT, WHO HAS BEEN
PLACED UNDER SURVEILLANCE BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, WILL
BE STANDING NEXT TO HIS TWO MAIN TORMENTORS, PRESIDENTS BUSH
AND CHIRAC. THIS UNEXPECTED GUEST WILL SAVOR THE MOMENT WHEN
HE WILL BE THE EQUAL OF HIS POWERFUL ADVERSARIES, DURING THE
PLANETARY TRIBUTE TO A MAN WHO HAD VIOLENTLY CONDEMNED THE
EMBARGO AND LATER THE WAR IN IRAQ."

TWO DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED EDITORIALS, ONE IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER
LE FIGARO THE OTHER IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION, COMMENT ON
THE "GLOBAL CITIZEN" (LE FIGARO) AND ON FRANCE'S EXCESS OF
IDOLATRY (LIBERATION). THE TWO OPPOSING VIEWS ILLUSTRATE THE
DEBATE WHICH HAS FLARED IN FRANCE OVER TELEVISION COVERAGE OF
THE POPE'S DEATH AND THE GOVERNMENT'S DECISION TO PUT ALL
GOVERNMENT BUILDING FLAGS AT HALF-MAST. THIS DEBATE OVER
FRANCE'S SECULARISM IS THE CENTRAL THEME OF THE EDITORIAL IN
REGIONAL LES DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE, WHILE LEFT-OF-
CENTER LE MONDE IN ITS EDITORIAL TITLED "A UNIVERSAL EMOTION"
CONTENDS THAT THE TRIBUTE IS IN KEEPING WITH THE STATURE OF
THE MAN. (SEE PART C)

ON THE OCCASION OF THE IRANIAN PRESIDENT'S VISIT TO PARIS, LE
FIGARO CARRIES A FULL-PAGE INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KHATAMI,
TITLED "IRANIAN PRESIDENT REFUSES TO GIVE UP IRAN'S CIVILIAN
NUCLEAR PROGRAM." "I BELIEVE THAT DEMOCRACY AND ISLAM ARE
COMPATIBLE, ON TWO CONDITIONS: FIRST WE MUST NOT LIMIT ISLAM
TO A NARROW TALIBAN-STYLE VISION. AND INSTEAD OF REDUCING
DEMOCRACY TO ONE VERSION, DEMOCRACY MUST BE ADAPTED TO THE
CULTURE AND IDENTITY OF EACH NATION. ON THE NUCLEAR ISSUE, OUR
NEGOTIATIONS ARE WITH THE EUROPEANS. WE MUST RESPECT THE
AGREEMENT REACHED IN PARIS. IRAN WILL TEMPORARILY SUSPEND ITS
NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES. BUT WE REFUSE TO STOP OUR CIVILIAN NUCLEAR
ACTIVITIES PERMANENTLY."

ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY ARE ALSO THE SUBJECT OF VARIOUS ARTICLES
ON THE UN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT IN THE ARAB WORLD. IN LEFT-
OF-CENTER LIBERATION CHRISTOPHE AYAD TITLES HIS ARTICLE: "ONE
ELECTION DOES NOT AN ARAB SPRING MAKE." (SEE PART C)

THE ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL PRESS REPORTS THAT "WASHINGTON IS
READY TO POSTPONE ITS ULTIMATUM ON SUBSIDIES TO BOEING AND
AIRBUS." (LE FIGARO ECONOMIE) DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE
ZEOLLICK IS QUOTED.

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

TRIBUTE TO JOHN PAUL II

"A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD"
MICHEL SCHIFRES IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO (04/05): "WE ARE
ASTONISHED BY THE IMPACT OF JOHN POPE'S DEATH AROUND THE
WORLD. AN IMPACT WHICH SERVES TO ILLUSTRATE THE AURA OF A
UNIVERSAL MAN. OTHER DEATHS IN THE PAST HAVE ELICITED SIMILAR
POPULAR FERVOR: THE DEATH OF JOHN F. KENNEDY, GANDHI. BUT
THESE DID NOT HAVE THE SAME UNIVERSAL NATURE. IN A SENSE WE
MUST GO BACK TO THE TRAGEDY OF THE TWIN TOWERS ON 9/11 TO FIND
A COMPARABLE EMOTION. ALL CONTINENTS WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF
RACE OR RELIGION ARE EXPRESSING THE SAME COMPASSION AND THE
SAME SADNESS FOR THE PASSING OF A MAN WHO WAS THE LEADER OF
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND AN ICON FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD."

"IDOLATRY"
PATRICK SABATIER IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (04/05): "OUR
FAITH IN REASON NEEDS TO BE STRONG IN ORDER NOT TO BE
OVERWHELMED BY THE WAVES OF HOLY WATER AND IDOLATRY INUNDATING
US. COMPASSION FOR THE MAN, TOLERANCE FOR ALL RELIGIONS AND
THE FACT THAT THIS POPE HAS PLAYED A POLITICAL ROLE IS NOT
ENOUGH TO KEEP US FROM SHUDDERING AT THIS UNIVERSAL TRIBUTE
AND AT THE STIFLING OF ANY CRITICISM OF HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS,
WHICH WERE FAR FROM PERFECT. JOHN PAUL II WAS A
ULTRACONSERVATIVE WHOSE USE OF THE RELIGIOUS STICK IS
EMBLEMATIC OF ALL FORMS OF RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM WHICH
PLAGUES HUMANITY."

"COMMUNICATION AND GLOBALIZATION"
JEAN-CLAUDE KIEFER IN REGIONAL LES DERNIERES NOUVELLES
D'ALSACE (04/05): "THIS `POLICY OF COMMUNICATION' COMPLETELY
BREAKS WITH THE TRADITIONAL CAUTION OF THE VATICAN AND PUTS
RELIGION IN TUNE WITH GLOBALIZATION. WORLD LEADERS HAVE
UNDERSTOOD (SUCH MEDIA ATTENTION): CATHOLIC OR NOT, THEY WILL
ALMOST ALL ATTEND THE FUNERAL ON FRIDAY. AMONG THEM, GEORGE W.
BUSH, THE VERY CHRISTIAN AMERICAN PRESIDENT WHOM THE POPE
BROUGHT UP SHORT BY PUBLICLY CONDEMNING THE WAR IN IRAQ.
COMPARED TO THE DIMENSIONS TAKEN ON BY THE DEATH OF THE POPE,
CERTAIN QUARRELS SEEM RIDICULOUS. SOME, IN FRANCE, COMPLAIN
BECAUSE THE SECULAR REPUBLIC HAS LOWERED ITS FLAGS FOR A
RELIGIOUS LEADER (WHO IS ALSO A HEAD OF STATE)! THEY FORGET
THAT JEAN PAUL II DID MORE FOR THE IMAGE OF FRANCE, WHEN
FOLLOWED BY TELEVISION DURING HIS VISITS, THAN ALL THEIR
(SECULAR) SPEECHES COMBINED. AND THEY FORGET THE VERY CATHOLIC
BURIALS OF OUR DECEASED PRESIDENTS OF OUR VERY SECULAR
REPUBLIC."

"A UNIVERSAL EMOTION"
LEFT-OF-CENTER LE MONDE IN ITS EDITORIAL (04/05): "A GLOBAL
EMOTION IS TODAY'S RESPONSE TO THE PASSING OF JOHN PAUL II.
WORLDWIDE COVERAGE HAS IN A SENSE TEMPORARILY ERASED THE
`SHOCK BETWEEN CIVILIZATIONS.' FEW EXPERTS COULD HAVE
PREDICTED THE COVERAGE WHICH AL-JAZZIRA AND AL-ARABIYA HAVE
DEVOTED TO THE STORY. THE MEDIA IS FASCINATED WITH THIS FIGURE
WHO SOON BECAME THE ICON OF A GLOBAL PEOPLE IN SEARCH OF
REFERENCES AND IN SEARCH OF A FATHER FIGURE. JOHN PAUL II WAS
AN EMINENTLY POLITICAL POPE WHO SOUGHT TO GO BEYOND THE
BORDERS OF RELIGION. THE WORLD TODAY IS PAYING HIM A UNIVERSAL
TRIBUTE."

UN REPORT: ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY

"ONE ELECTION DOES NOT AN ARAB SPRING MAKE."
CHRISTOPHE AYAD IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (04/05): "THE
ARAB WORLD IS SUFFERING FROM A LACK OF DEMOCRACY. AND THIS
TIME IT IS THE UN WHICH IS SAYING IT, NOT PRESIDENT BUSH AND
HIS NEO-CONS WHO CAN TAKE CREDIT FOR THE ELECTIONS IN IRAQ.
THE THIRD UN REPORT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN THE ARAB WORLD
DRAWS A DAMNING PICTURE OF THE STATE OF POLITICAL LIBERTIES,
DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE IN THE ARAB WORLD." LEACH