Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05PARIS77
2005-01-05 17:31:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Paris
Cable title:  

GOF WON'T BE JOINING INTERNATIONAL MISSION FOR

Tags:  PREL PROP PHUM IZ FR 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000077 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2015
TAGS: PREL PROP PHUM IZ FR
SUBJECT: GOF WON'T BE JOINING INTERNATIONAL MISSION FOR
IRAQ ELECTIONS, STRESSES SUPPORT VIA OTHER MEANS

REF: A. 04 STATE 274965

B. 04 PARIS 9098

Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, reasons
1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000077

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2015
TAGS: PREL PROP PHUM IZ FR
SUBJECT: GOF WON'T BE JOINING INTERNATIONAL MISSION FOR
IRAQ ELECTIONS, STRESSES SUPPORT VIA OTHER MEANS

REF: A. 04 STATE 274965

B. 04 PARIS 9098

Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, reasons
1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Poloff reviewed reftel points urging French support
for the International Mission for Iraq Elections (IMIE) with
MFA Iraq desk officer Bernard Chappedelaine January 5, after
delivering reftel points to the GoF December 29.
Chappedelaine reported that the GoF did not plan to
participate in or offer direct support to the IMIE mission,
and stressed that France would channel its contributions via
the EU's 30 million euros donation towards Iraqi elections
support. He added that, unlike other countries on the IMIE
steering committee, France did not have an electoral
commission or other suitable independent interlocutor for the
IMIE. Chappedelaine cited security concerns as another
reason for lack of French participation in the IMIE, despite
poloff's emphasis that the IMIE would not be an observer
mission in the traditional sense and would be Amman-based
with short visits to Iraq (ref a).


2. (C) Chappedelaine stressed that, in addition to the EU
financial contribution, the GoF was offering other forms of
bilateral support for Iraq's elections. As France was one of
14 countries designated for out-of-country (OCV) voting in
Iraq's elections, the GoF was working with the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) to select polling stations
and provide statistics on the Iraqi community in France,
which numbered in the low thousands. IOM and French MFA and
Ministry of Interior officials met for the first time in late
December to discuss OCV Iraqi voting in France.
Chappedelaine cited as a further example of French elections
support a planned GoF program to welcome 14 officials from
various Iraqi political parties (ref b for further
background) for a familiarization program on the electoral
process. The exchange program, which had been originally
proposed to last two weeks, had been scaled down to five
days, and would overlap with the planned visit of Iraqi
Interim Government President Ghazi al-Yawer to Paris January
13-14.


3. (C) Comment: The GoF disinclination to contribute
personnel to the IMIE is consistent with long-standing GoF
reticence on sending additional French personnel, military or
otherwise, into Iraq, even on a short-term basis. As long as
the security situation in Iraq remains difficult, we expect
the GoF to continue to concentrate its modest offers of
assistance to Iraq on France-based programs, similar to the
January exchange program for political party representatives.
End comment.


4. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.
Leach