MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Europe: Allegation of GWOT

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Europe: Allegation of GWOT
Secret Prisons and Rendition Flights Iraq - Saddam Trial and

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Democracy EuroMed- Barcelona Conference and GWOT Israel -
Sharon
PARIS - Monday, November 28, 2005

(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:

Europe: Allegation of GWOT Secret Prisons and Rendition
Flights
Iraq - Saddam Trial and Democracy
EuroMed- Barcelona Conference and GWOT
Israel - Sharon

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

On Saturday, Le Monde headlined: "The Americans Created a
Secret Prison in Kosovo." The front-page story revolved around

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allegations made by Gil Robles, the Human Rights Commissioner
at the European Council, who recounted his visit of Camp
Bondsteel in Kosovo in September 2002. According to him, the
detainees wore ORANGE jumpsuits, "like the ones in
Guantanamo." He wonders whether "Bondsteel served as a
clearing house for detainees arriving on CIA flights, between
Afghanistan, the Middle East Europe and Guantanamo." Asked by
Le Monde why he was speaking up now, Robles answered: "The
number of recent allegations about CIA secret prisons and the
magnitude of rendition flights have brought back to mind the
episode, shedding new light on it."

Monday's Le Monde devotes its editorial to this particular
story, commenting: "It would be extremely shocking if the U.S.
used the province of Kosovo as conquered territory when it was
in fact under UN mandate." Saturday's Le Figaro also reports
on the suspicion of a "small Guantanamo in Kosovo." Arnaud de
La Grange claims "the French military doubts the existence of
such a prison." (See Part C) De La Grange interviews General
Valentin: "I visited Camp Bondsteel on several occasions and
noted that all was regular. I found 75 detainees and suggested
it was too many."

The "difficult trial" of Saddam Hussein is featured on the
front page of Le Figaro, which contends that "fear dominates
the debates." Le Figaro devotes several articles to Iraq, one
of which, by Renaud Girard, is titled "Democracy as Promised
by the Americans, Is Slow in Coming." Girard writes:
"Democracy appears to be a distant prospect that may even be
totally unrealistic." (See Part C) Lieutenant Colonel James
Corum is interviewed in Le Figaro about the training of the
Iraqi police: "The Pentagon's mistake was to go to war without
a plan of reconstruction for Iraq's security forces. We will
need from two to three years before the Iraqis can handle
security on their own."

Other international news include the EuroMed summit in
Barcelona with commentaries on international terrorism (See
Part C). Jose-Manuel Barroso, President of the European
Commission, writes an op-ed in Le Figaro: "The line of
demarcation between foreign policy and domestic policy is
becoming less clear. Ideological radicalization and terrorism
have privatized the war. These problems cannot be resolved by
single nations. In this regard the Euro-Mediterranean region
is a European priority: it is at the crossroads of the biggest
challenges: peace, security and the fight against terrorism."

Liberation devotes an editorial to what it calls "Sharonism"
or Ariel Sharon's "De Gaulle-style" charisma. (See Part C)

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

Europe: Allegation of GWOT Secret Prisons and Rendition
Flights

"Unalienable Right"
Left-of-center Le Monde in its editorial (11/28): "Was there a
Guantanamo-style prison in Kosovo after 2001? If the answer is
yes, has it been closed since then? Did the Americans use KFOR
installations to create a prison that did not answer to
international legislation? All of these questions have been
raised by the Human Rights Commissioner at the European
Council, Gil Robles. His comments have come to reinforce
concerns being voiced by international human rights
organizations. The Kosovo detainment center he talks about is
said to have housed Kosovar activists and a handful of others
from the Middle East. This information seems to corroborate
the suspicion that Washington officials may have `outsourced'
detention centers for `terrorists' in Europe, in `friendly'
nations either ready to overlook civil liberties or who were
particularly vulnerable to pressure. Such activities, if the
accusations prove to be true, are inexcusable. They discredit
the rhetoric of democracy and human rights, which were
supposed to justify the crusade against terrorism and tyranny
launched by the U.S. after 9/11. They dishonor a nation than
presents itself as the incarnation of universal values, as
their defender and promoter. Contrary to what President Bush's
entourage believes, war does not justify everything. Certainly
not torture, as Senator McCain recently reminded the
President. It would be extremely shocking if the U.S. used the
province of Kosovo as conquered territory when it was in fact
under UN mandate, to implement suspicious methods. Its allies
must react firmly to this. This is a good opportunity for
France, always ready to defend legality, to voice its
disapproval. The West did not wage a war in Kosovo for
humanitarian reasons, to tolerate today the creation of zones
which are outside the law."

"Suspicion About a `Small Guantanamo' in Kosovo"
Arnaud De La Grange in right-of-center Le Figaro (11/26): "A
little Guantanamo in the heart of Europe? The recent
allegations of `secret CIA prisons' across Europe have led Gil
Robles to wonder about the past existence of a Guantanamo-
style prison in Kosovo, which he visited in 2002: Bondsteel
Camp. In his declarations to Le Monde he says he saw 15 to 20
detainees wearing Guantanamo-style ORANGE jumpsuits. The
question that comes to mind then is whether the Americans used
the base in the framework of their fight against terrorism.
Officially, they were banned from doing this because the base
was under NATO command. But the then French general in
command, General Valentin says: `I visited the camp several
times and judged they were too many inmates (75); I asked for
an explanation and for the number to be reduced to a half-
dozen.' Valentin does confirm the presence at Camp Bondsteel
of `North African-looking individuals.' But all of this, he
says, `was known and official.' The French military doubts
Americans might have used a NATO base for secret activities.
The prison may have served more as a transit stop for
detainees on rendition flights, rather than as a detention
center."

Iraq - Saddam Trial and Democracy

"Democracy Long in Coming"
Renaud Girard in right-of-center Le Figaro (11/28): "Two and a
half years after the toppling of Saddam, Iraq still does not
have political institutions that work. The peaceful democracy
promised by the Pentagon's neo-conservatives appears to be a
far away prospect, and possibly an unrealistic one. Iraq
possesses a showcase for democracy - press conferences and
free elections broadcast by foreign televisions - but it is
not a nation governed by the right of law that usually
accompanies a democracy. The incident of militia operating
within the Ministry of Interior is not an anecdote. It is a
symbol of a country with practically no authority, where
allegiance goes to one's tribe, clan or family. The recent
elections show that voters were not moved by a national
platform, but that they followed religious and ethnic
considerations. Without security, freedom of expression is a
vain word. And in today's Iraq an individual's security is
guaranteed by his tribe, not the Americans."
EuroMed- Barcelona Conference and GWOT

"An `Alliance of Civilizations' to Counter Terrorism"
Alain Barluet in right-of-center Le Figaro (11/28): "Can the
fight against terrorism help to bring closer together the two
sides of the Mediterranean? In a region where the slightest
mention of `the war against terror,' dear to President Bush,
provokes allergic reactions, the stakes go beyond security.
Hence the `alliance of civilizations' made official in
Barcelona in order to reduce the cultural and religious
fracture that feeds Islamic radicalism. At the close of the
conference the final document will insist on `zero tolerance'
for terrorism. The text will also include a reference to
cooperation between the police and justice systems, and invite
the different nations to share information on terrorists and
their supporters. But this is easier said than done: on the
other side of the Mediterranean the definition of terrorism
itself varies, colored as it is by the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict. The participants believe that this difference in
perspective, between `civilian innocents' and `rebels fighting
the occupiers' could lead to a shock between civilizations.
The risk is greater, they think, because of the U.S strategy
in fighting terrorism, from which many want to distance
themselves."

Israel - Sharon

"Sharonism"
Patrick Sabatier in left-of-center Liberation (11/28): "Is
Sharon like De Gaulle, a charismatic general who will be able
to lead his nation to peace and make concessions no one
believed he could make? Will there be Sharonism' like
`Gaullism?' Is Sharon's plan to confine the Palestinians
behind the security fence without economic prospects and to
close the door on a compromise for Jerusalem? Or does he want
to go back to the `roadmap' and create a viable Palestinian
state that will require painful concessions, similar to those
that were almost agreed to under President Clinton? Sharon
himself may not know exactly where he is going. His future
will depend on the elections and on the Palestinians. But at
least he wants to rid Israel of the ideologists and their
plans for Greater Israel, thus giving peace a chance."
STAPLETON