MEDIA REACTION REPORT - (MIDDLE EAST - ARIEL SHARON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002413

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR INR/R/MR; IIP/RW; IIP/RNY; BBG/VOA; IIP/WEU; AF/PA;
EUR/WE /P/SP; D/C (MCCOO); EUR/PA; INR/P; INR/EUC; PM; OSC ISA
FOR ILN; NEA; WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE; DOC FOR ITA/EUR/FR
AND PASS USTR/PA; 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 - ARIEL SHARON
TO WASHINGTON) CHINA - ANTI-JAPANESE DEMONSTRATIONS
PARIS - MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2005


(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:

(MIDDLE EAST - ARIEL SHARON TO WASHINGTON)
CHINA - ANTI-JAPANESE DEMONSTRATIONS

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO ANNOUNCES ON ITS FRONT PAGE: "BUSH-
SHARON: A SUMMIT TO SAVE THE TRUCE" AND REPORTS ON
WASHINGTON'S "IRRITATION OVER NEW SETTLEMENTS IN THE WEST
BANK." THIS IS THE TITLE CHOSEN BY CATHOLIC LA CROIX FOR ITS
REPORT ON THE SUMMIT: "SHARON AND BUSH DIVIDED ON
SETTLEMENTS." THE EDITORIAL BY FRANCOIS ERNENWEIN, TITLED "THE
TRAP" REFERS TO THE "INFERNAL CYCLE OF VIOLENCE AND REPRESSION
THAT COULD CLOSE IN ON THE MIDDLE EAST." (SEE PART C)

SEVERAL STORIES ARE DEVOTED TO AL-QAEDA TERRORISTS. IN RIGHT-
OF-CENTER WEEKLY L'EXPRESS PATRICE COSTE REPORTS ON HOW THE
U.S. HAS ALLEGEDLY CONTRACTED OUT TORTURE OF DETAINEES TO
FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS, IN EGYPT, JORDAN AND AFGHANISTAN NAMELY.
THE KILLING IN SAUDI ARABIA OF ABDELKRIM MEJJATI IS REPORTED
IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE JOURNAL DU DIMANCHE. GILLES DELAFON
CONCLUDES: "IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS, 25 OF THE 26 MOST WANTED
TERRORISTS IN SAUDI ARABIA HAVE EITHER BEEN APPREHENDED OR
KILLED. THIS IS AN UNDENIABLE SUCCESS FOR SAUDI ARABIA'S
INCREASINGLY EFFECTIVE INTELLIGENCE." IN POPULAR RIGHT-OF-
CENTER LE PARISIEN CHRISTOPHE DUBOIS DEVOTES TWO PAGES TO AN
INTERVIEW OF KHALED BEN MUSTAPHA, A FORMER GUANTANAMO
DETAINEE: "THE HORRIBLE TALE OF A FRENCHMAN HELD AT
GUANTANAMO."

TWO EDITORIALS ARE DEVOTED TO THE "ANTI-JAPANESE FEVER"
UNLEASHED IN CHINA OVER REVISIONISM. IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE
FIGARO PIERRE ROUSSELIN WRITES: "IN TODAY'S MODERN WORLD,
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS REQUIRE THAT EVERYONE TAKE
RESPONSIBILITY FOR ONE'S ACTIONS." (SEE PART C)

LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION DEVOTES ITS LEAD STORY TO THE LATEST
CONTROVERSY IN THE FILM INDUSTRY OVER SUBSIDIES TO FRENCH
FILMS MADE WITH FOREIGN INVESTMENTS, "ESSENTIALLY AMERICAN
FUNDS." IN HIS EDITORIAL PATRICK SABATIER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT
"THE ISSUE IS COMPLEX AND NEEDS TO BE UNRAVELED, BUT A CIVIL
WAR IN THE FRENCH FILM INDUSTRY WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY MAKE FOR A
VERY BAD MOVIE."

AIRLINE SUBSIDIES MAKE THE FRONT PAGE OF LE FIGARO ECONOMIE IN
AN ARTICLE TITLED "THE TRUCE ENDS TONIGHT." OLIVIER AUGUSTE
WRITES: "BOTH SIDES CONTINUE TO SHOW THEIR COMMITMENT TO A
NEGOTIATED SOLUTION, EVEN IF IT MEANS EXTENDING THE DEADLINE.
EU COMMISSIONER IS SAID TO BE BANKING ON LESS EXECRABLE
RELATIONS WITH ROB PORTMAN, THE NEXT U.S. NEGOTIATOR, THAN
WITH ROBERT ZOELLICK. BUT NEITHER PARTY HAS MUCH TO GAIN FROM
GOING TO THE WTO. THE PROCEDURE WOULD BE EXTREMELY LONG AND
THE WTO COULD WELL PUT INTO QUESTION THE PRINCIPLE OF
SUBSIDIES IN GENERAL. BOTH BOEING AND AIRBUS WOULD BE THE
LOSERS."

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

DUE TO A COMPUTER MISFUNCTION PART C WAS LOST AND THERE WAS NO
TIME TO RE-CREATE IT. WE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE ONLY THE
FOLLOWING

CHINA - ANTI-JAPANESE DEMONSTRATIONS

"A THIRD OF HUMANITY UNDER PRESSURE"
JEAN-CLAUDE KIEFER IN REGIONAL LES DERNIERES NOUVELLES
D'ALSACE (04/11): "BEIJING WOULD SEEM TO BE PREPARING A NEW
`CULTURAL REVOLUTION,' FIRST BY FINDING A `SCAPEGOAT' TO
CHANNEL SOCIAL DISCONTENT, AND THIS ROLE SEEMS TO SUIT JAPAN
BETTER THAN TAIWAN. WE CAN HARDLY IMAGINE WHERE THESE
EXAGGERATED TENSIONS IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD WILL LEAD. AND
IN WHAT FIX THEY LEAVE THE UNITED STATES. UNLIKE EUROPE, WHERE
FRANCE PREPARES TO SELL ARMS TO CHINA, THE U.S. HAS ALWAYS
MISTRU