FRANCE: DEMARCHE ON SUDAN/AMIS/UN MISSION

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001851 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2016 TAGS: PREL IZ SU FR SUBJECT: FRANCE: DEMARCHE ON SUDAN/AMIS/UN MISSION REF: A. STATE 45370 ¶B. PARIS 1776 Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Bruce Turner, reasons 1.4 (b/ d). ¶1. (C) Per ref A, we provided on March 22 ref A talking points on Sudan and the AMIS/UN issue to MFA DAS-equivalent for Central and East Africa Helene Le Gal. In a follow-up discussion the same day, Le Gal said she considered the approach the U.S. intended to take with Arab states at the Arab League Summit a sound one -- "I have no problems at all with the contents of your demarche. Your points make sense to us." ¶2. (C) Asked whether France would carry out similar demarches with Arab or other states, Le Gal repeated what she told us earlier in the week (ref B). France had discussed the AMIS issue several times with Libya and Egypt, wanted to take a low-key approach regarding further demarches, and was not planning new demarches at this time. (NOTE: The MFA's IO Bureau has informed us that IO A/S-equivalent Sylvie Berman had also raised the issue with Congolese officials during her recent visit to Brazzaville (ref B). END NOTE) This did not rule out demarches at a later stage if circumstances might require further French action, Le Gal indicated. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm Stapleton