MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Milosevic Death -

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Milosevic Death -
Sudan - Dubai Port Deal
PARIS - Monday, March 13, 2006

(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:

Milosevic Death
Sudan
Dubai Port Deal

(B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

The electronic and print press over the weekend and today was
largely devoted to Prime Minister Villepin's contested youth
employment plan that sparked demonstrations and a sit-in at
the Sorbonne University. French police forced the evacuation
of the University building around 4 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Popular right-of-center Aujourd'hui en France on Sunday
headlined: "Villepin Alone Against Everybody." Calling the
situation a "crisis," the subhead said: "the evacuation of
hundreds of students who occupied the Sorbonne hasn't reduced
the youths determination to oppose the CPE.

The death of dictator Slobodan Milosevic: "Deprives his
Victims of Justice" according to the headline in Catholic La
Croix.
Front pages of two Sunday papers, right-of-center Le Journal
Du Dimanche ("Death of a Tyrant") and popular right-of-center
Aujourd'hui en France ("Death of a War Criminal") announced
Slobodan Milosevic's death in his cell at The Hague where he
was on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity.
Monday's right-of-center Le Figaro says that Milosevic's
death: "disrupts the process of normalization in the Balkans."
This death also casts doubts on the Tribunal that is devoted
to trying Former Yugoslavian war criminals. Le Figaro notes "a
lot of people die in the jails of this tribunal. and in
Belgrade several dailies were calling Milosevic's death an
assassination." (See Part C)

The inauguration of Chilean president Michelle Bachelet is
widely reported in Monday's press with mention of Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice's presence representing the U.S. while
Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie represented France at
the inauguration. Monday's Liberation notes that Bolivian
president Evo Morales, who met with Secretary of State Rice on
the margins of the inauguration, presented her with a guitar
decorated with coca leaves.

"Africans Call the UN into Darfur," says Sunday left-of-center
Le Monde's front page, noting that three years have passed
since the outbreak of civil war in Darfur, and the
international community has not been able to pull the region
out of looming catastrophe. The article notes that the U.S.
has pressed for NATO troops to carry out the UN peacekeeping
mission - a move that Sudanese leaders view as letting a
Trojan horse from Washington on their soil. Gilles Delafon, a
regular columnist in Le Journal du Dimanche, writes "This
time, Africa seems to have decided to assume its
responsibilities. After months of procrastination, the
African Union has agreed to transfer control of its forces to
the UN. He notes that: "It is obvious that France, present in
the area with its military base in Chad, will have a major
role to play, and also, more generally, so will Europe." (See
Part C)

Sunday's Le Monde, in an article entitled, "Congressional
Opposition Puts President Bush in a Delicate Position vis--
vis his Arab Allies," quotes the Washington Post about the
Dubai Ports World crisis. The Arab world got a clear message
from the debate over this deal: "No matter how much your
country cooperates with the U.S., Americans may still not be
able to distinguish you from al-Qaeda." (See Part C)

Catholic La Croix carries a report on the two-day long
conference in Istanbul on the Kurdish issue. Foreign affairs
editorialist for La Croix Jean-Christophe Ploquin notes: "The
situation in Iraq has given the Kurds the world over a
formidable impetus. Thanks namely to the quasi-state that has
been formed in the northern part of the country under the
protection of the U.S. It has benefited from exceptional
development. This new geopolitical reality is linked to the
American presence in Iraq. Instability could erupt again if
the U.S. soldiers were to withdraw."

(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

Milosevic Death

"Lesser Evil"
Gerard Dupuy writes in left-of-center Liberation (03/13): "The
brutal demise of Milosevic marks the end of a life of
violence. His death is a source of frustration for his critics
and an inexhaustible source of paranoid theories for his
supporters. In his day, Milosevic's reprehensible plans could
be carried out because of the passivity of the Europeans and
it was only the American military machine that was able to
stop him."


"Milosevic's Death Without a Trial Poisons the Future of
Serbia"
Foreign Affairs specialist for right-of-center Le Figaro
Isabelle Lasserre comments (03/13): "Slobodan Milosevic's
premature death may exacerbate Serbian nationalism and add
weight to the supporters of Belgrade's revisionist theories.
Unable to be tried, Milosevic will remain for his supporters a
hero who tried to save the Serbs from their numerous enemies.
Without a trial there can be no justice for the victims who in
Croatia, Bosnia or Kosovo were subjected to the brutal
repression of Milosevic's regime. A lot depends on how the
funeral will be handled. If the former Serbian president is a
given a funeral fit for a tsar. the nationalists will try to
present Milosevic as yet another victim of the West."

Sudan

"The UN Finally Comes to the Rescue of Darfur"
Gilles Delafon in weekly right-of-center Le Journal du
Dimanche (03/12): "The person who is responsible for the
catastrophe is Sudanese president Omar al-Bachir. Up until
recently he could count on the dubious indulgence of his
peers. But pressure has continued to increase thanks namely to
the U.S. and more particularly to President George Bush who
has shown his determination not to have a repeat of what took
place in Rwanda."

Dubai Port Deal

"The Republican Majority Distances Itself From a Weakened
George W. Bush"
Economic right-of-center Les Echos' New York correspondent
David Barroux (03/13): "In order to increase their chances of
success during the mid-term elections, elected Democrat and
Republican officials no longer hesitate to completely ignore
the position of the President who is as unpopular as was
Richard Nixon in his time. Bogged down in Iraq, George W. Bush
no longer has any authority over his own troops. and he no
longer appears able to set out an agenda of any kind."
STAPLETON