GOF NEARS COMPLETION OF WHITE PAPER ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 007220 SIPDIS STATE FOR S/CT AND C E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2015 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER FR SUBJECT: GOF NEARS COMPLETION OF WHITE PAPER ON TERRORISM/INTERNAL SECURITY REF: A. PARIS 4749 ¶B. PARIS 3118 Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER COUNSELOR JOSIAH ROSENBLATT, FOR REAS ONS 1.4 B/D ¶1. (C) The GOF continues to finalize its white paper on terrorism and internal security (ref B). On October 20, Poloff contacted Louis Blin, the MFA's office director-equivalent for terrorism and security, for an update. Blin said the GOF was in a period of "synthesis," in which the inter-agency process is focusing on the paper's overall coherence. He added that the comprehensive nature of the white paper - it "touches everything" - has forced the GOF to reexamine and regroup proposed policy and procedural recommendations. The white paper should be ready by the end of November, said Blin, although he would not be drawn into any substantive speculation, saying that whatever he discussed might be modified through the inter-agency process. ¶2. (C) Poloff also spoke with Julien Deruffe, the MFA's senior desk officer for counter-terrorism. Deruffe confirmed that the white paper was planned for public release by the end of November. He said the GOF also planned to preview the document on November 17 with selected members of French civil society, given that the white paper's audience is the French public. Still, he said the MFA had argued for inviting certain Embassies to the meeting, and he confirmed that the U.S. Embassy would be invited to attend. Turning to the white paper itself, Deruffe said inter-agency debate had been "intense," although he did not believe its final conclusions or recommendations would be extremely controversial. ¶3. (C) Visiting U/S Nick Burns heard from MFA Political Director Stanislas de Laboulaye October 19 that the white paper's chapter on international cooperation had elicited one new reflection within GOF security circles: the Iraq insurgency is replacing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a motivating force within radicalized elements in Paris' lower-class Muslim suburbs. ¶4. (U) Drafting and editing of the white paper is being overseen by the General Secretariat for National Defense (SGDN),in conjunction with the Ministry of Interior. The paper encompasses six areas of reflection: possible threats to France's internal stability, terrorist threats to world stability, the use of technology by terrorists, the role of the legal system in combating terrorism, international counter-terrorism cooperation, and public outreach. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm STAPLETON