MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Demonstrations Against French

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Demonstrations Against French
Government Employment Policy Israeli Elections
PARIS - Tuesday, March 28, 2006

(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT:

Demonstrations Against French Government Employment Policy
Israeli Elections

B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE:

As a result of today's strikes to protest PM Villepin's youth
employment legislation (CPE) there are no paper deliveries.
This report is based exclusively on Internet versions, except
for afternoon paper Le Monde published yesterday.

Liberation leads with "March and Strike" but also announces on
its front page: "Israel Votes Without Sharon" and reports that
"Moussaoui Wanted to Attack the White House."

In its five-page coverage of the CPE situation, Liberation
interviews a professor from the University of Toulouse who
believes that Villepin's legislation "is a direct attack on
France's Labor Code, which dictates all the employer/employee
regulations. In a separate article Liberation is very critical
of the speech given by Interior Minister Sarkozy in the north
of France and titles its report: "Sarkozy Goes It Alone." In
Le Figaro Alexis Bezet titles his editorial "There Is Life
After the CPE" in reference to Sarkozy's speech. (See Part C)
Le Monde's headline reads: "63% of the French Reject the CPE
and the Villepin Method."

Liberation predicts that Sharon's Kadima party is the favorite
in the elections in Israel. (See Part C)

Liberation carries an article entitled "Immigration Peoples
the Streets in America." Pascal Riche reports on the 500,000
Hispanic demonstrators who marched in L.A. against the new
immigration legislation: "President Bush is at the center of
the tempest. He could well lose the little authority he has
left. He is opposed by the most conservative in his own party
on the issue of legalizing immigrants. Last Thursday he called
for the nation to `align its rhetoric with its traditions and
to avoid pitting one group against another.'" Le Monde
reports: "Since the House of Representatives voted in December
2005 a law that would criminalize housing or assisting an
illegal immigrant and proposing the construction of a wall in
four sections along the Mexican border, the mobilization has
been intense. President Bush, who has lost control of his
party on this issue, is proposing a formula of `guest worker'
which would lead to progressive regularization."

Liberation titles its article on Moussaoui: "A Kamikaze
Defense" and notes the many inconsistencies of his testimony.
"For weeks his defense team was making progress, but his
testimony is bringing their house down. while some are calling
Moussaoui's strategy "legally assisted suicide."

Le Monde reports on the "Controversy Surrounding a Raid on a
Shiite Mosque in Iraq," noting the U.S. army had denied that
its forces were responsible for Sunday's raid in which 16
died. The Americans indicated the operation had been led by
Iraqi Special Forces "to disrupt a terrorist cell." The U.S.
nevertheless "recognized that some American Special Forces
soldiers had been present, but as advisors, specifying that
none of them had gone into the mosque and that the mosque
hadn't been damaged."

Le Monde devotes a page to the "declassified Pentagon report
on the Iraq invasion" under the headline "Saddam Was Counting
on Paris and Moscow." It quotes the report's conclusions "that
the strongman feared a coup but never believed in an American
victory," and that "the most important element in Saddam's
strategic calculation was his confidence in France and Russia.
France and Russia had billions of dollars of contracts in
Iraq, with an implicit counterpoint that their position would
be favorable to the regime. And the French wanted to show the
world their weight in the UN Security Council."
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES:

Demonstrations Against French Government Employment Policy

"Surreal"
Antoine de Gaudemar in left-of-center Liberation (03/28): "Two
thirds of the people who are asked say they are against the
CPE. Yet the government is not budging. While the country will
be on strike, although the word itself has been avoided, the
Prime Minister will be lunching with the King of Spain; the
President remains deaf to the solemn calls for intervention.
The only one speaking out is the Minister of the Interior,
Sarkozy. who is thinking only of his political future,
criticizes his own government's doings and makes no statement
of solidarity. As for Villepin, his deafness will have once
more disappointed youth about our nation's politicians.
Unfortunately the collateral damage will go beyond Villepin
and his personal political future."

"There Is Life After the CPE"
Alexis Bezet in right-of-center Le Figaro (03/28): "Sarkozy
suggested that the legislation on the CPE be `suspended.'
Those who wanted a controversy to rise from Sarkozy's stance
will have been disappointed. But as President of the UMP he
reassured the party that `there is life after the CPE.'
Sarkozy does not want his presidential aspirations to suffer
from the CPE controversy. But he cannot set himself apart from
Villepin's government. Hence his calls for `a compromise.'
Sarkozy also strongly believes that France can reform, despite
the message from the street, which in his view is more about
the government's `method' than the reform itself. Still,
Sarkozy remains firm: union-held monopolies must end, as well
as the single work contract. Sarkozy favors helping the
unemployed find new jobs and supports pushing up the mandatory
retirement age. His therapy methods are radical and
courageous. Sarkozy's stance is that to better reform
tomorrow, the government must give in a little today on the
CPE."

Israeli Elections

"Separation"
Pierre Haski in left-of-center Liberation (03/28): "The
Israeli elections will coincide with the elections to invest
the Palestinian Parliament. In a not so distant time, these
two elections would be taking place in a climate of tension
and violence, considering how extremely contradictory are the
options at hand. Yet this is not the case: the Islamic success
has hardly affected the political debate in Israel. And all
reports indicate that the Palestinian voters did not chose
Hamas for its anti-Israeli agenda, but rather to put an end to
years of corruption, nepotism and incompetence. This relative
and reciprocal indifference does not a policy make, and will
not suffice to ensure peaceful coexistence between the two
neighbors. But it does make it possible to move towards a more
dispassionate and real separation wished for by a majority on
both sides. Sharon's most important political legacy is
undoubtedly to have instilled the notion of unilateral
withdrawal in the minds of the Israeli people. A large
majority of Israelis have already turned their backs on the
occupied territories and rid the Palestinians from their
minds. Withdrawing from the West Bank as per the Olmert plan
and in keeping with Israel's security interests will
accentuate this trend. But it would be illusory to imagine
that a durable peace can exist without an agreement: this is
what has not been clearly spelled out in the program set out
by Olmert, the probable winner of the Israeli elections,
assuredly because it is the most difficult part of the
program."

"Kadima, an Unlikely Winner"
Jacques Guyon in regional La Charente Libre (03/28): "If the
last polls have it right, Olmert will be the winner. This
outcome may appear surprising: after all Kadima is a recent
party made up of an improbable amalgamation of disenchanted
Likud and Labor followers. It is a party without deep
traditional and historical roots created by Sharon, who went
into a coma weeks after creating the party. Olmert's probable
victory is also puzzling because he is such a new political
figure who was destined to remain in the shadows of Sharon's
strong personality. But all these handicaps do not seem to
have weighed in against much heavier issues. Many among the
pacifists, starting with Peres, have accepted the notion that
peace will not be the result of an agreement with the
Palestinians, but the result of separation." STAPLETON