VISIT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES FROM MARCH 1 TO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PARIS 002242

SIPDIS

DOJ PLEASE PASS TO OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL, CRIMINAL
DIVISION (FRONT OFFICE, COUNTER-TERRORISM SECTION, OFFICE OF INTERNAT
AFFAIRS)

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KJUS FR KJUS PREL PGOV KCRM PTER
SUBJECT: VISIT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES FROM MARCH 1 TO
4, 2006.

REF: NONE


1. (U) SUMMARY: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales traveled to
France from March 1 to 4, 2006. He met with Pierre de
Bousquet de Florian, Director of the DST; Nicolas Sarkozy,
Minister of the Interior; French Counter-terrorism
Officials; Ron Noble, Secretary General of Interpol; Pascal
Clement, Minister of Justice and a number of media and
opinion maker representatives. The meetings were cordial
and constructive and focused on counter-terrorism
cooperation; with the Attorney General expressing
appreciation to his counterparts for the excellent working
relationship between France and the United States in this
area; and his making a number of appearances with the media
and opinion makers to explain to the French public the
United States approach to combating terrorism. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) After a March 1 evening arrival, on March 2, the
Attorney General met with Pierre de Bousquet de Florian,
director of the DST, France's internal security service.
Both the Attorney General and de Bousquet complimented US-
French C/T cooperation, calling it "exceptional," and
recognizing that both countries were fighting a common
enemy, and both had experienced losses. France's C/T fight
was led by intelligence agencies working in concert with
the judiciary, said Bousquet. Although France did not
pretend that its model could be applied elsewhere, it
strongly believed that judiciary and police/intelligence
services needed to cooperate closely in order to attack
terrorist networks before they struck.


3. (SBU) In response to questions from the Attorney
General concerning the DST's view of the evolving nature of
the terrorist threat, de Bousquet expressed a concern that
democracies not compromise their essential values in
combating terrorism as this could weaken the foundation of
their societies. Most important, said Bousquet, was to win
the battle of communication. Videos of USG actions were a
continuing source of motivation and repulsion for
extremists. Although USG communication regarding terrorism
was focused on convincing its citizens, images of abuses in
Iraq and the messages of the USG as received overseas both
rebounded negatively overseas and encouraged Muslim youth
to join extremist movements, said Bousquet.


4. (SBU) Bousquet said France was most concerned about
the worldwide upsurge of radical Islam. For this reason,
the GOF was building a "French Islam" a moderate Islam
that worked within the French culture. All those who
refuse to participate in this system would have no place in
French society, said Bousquet. He believed that the next
generation of terrorists would be born and well-integrated
into French society, since well-educated and integrated
French Muslims were already beginning to be seen in
jihadist circles. He called for continued close
coordination between intelligence and police agencies, and
asked that the Attorney General look into streamlining
current procedure for passing telephone and Internet
communication details based in the United States and needed
for investigations in France.


5. (SBU) The Attorney General also met Minister of the
Interior Sarkozy. Also present for the Ministry of the
Interior were Diplomatic Advisor David Martinon, Legal
Advisor Sylvie Smanniotto, and DST Director de Bousquet de
Florian. Sarkozy complained that the Ministry of the
Interior felt cooperation in terrorism matters with the
United States were one sided. He declined to give further
specifics Attorney General Gonzales stated that if Sarkozy
had a specific complaint, he should feel free to call him
directly. [Note: Subsequent discussion with de Bousquet
and Sarkozy's staff yielded apologies and assurances that
GOF-USG CT cooperation is, and is seen as, good.]


6. (SBU) Sarkozy also signaled that he was under pressure
to remedy the current inability of France to produce
biometric visas in conformity with recent U.S. legislation,
so as to participate in the visa waiver program. [Note:
Septel on recent biometric passport developments.]


7. (SBU) Sarkozy also discussed general geopolitical
issues concerning France and the United States. He
believed France should not be in an adversarial posture
with the U.S. and should change its approach. The U.S. is
an important friend and ally of France, the level of

PARIS 00002242 002 OF 004


convergence of interest is much greater than with major
non-democratic powers like Russia or China. While he was
constrained by the current government's policies, he
believed the situation would change after the election. He
indicated he would travel to the U.S. to be able to tell
the French public what his impressions were of the U.S. and
that he would provide more detail on his positions as his
run for the French presidency advanced. Sarkozy stated
that France and the international community would have to
help the United States resolve the situation in Iraq, as
the U.S. could not do so alone; perhaps with international
forces eventually replacing the U.S.


8. (SBU) On the morning of March 3, Ambassador Stapleton
hosted a breakfast for the Attorney General and four key
French counter-terrorism officials, counter-terrorism
investigative judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, Prosecutor
General of Paris Yves Bot, Prosecutor of Paris Jean-Claude
Marin, and Director of the Criminal Division of the Justice
Ministry Jean-Marie Huet. The Attorney General started the
discussion by thanking the officials for their assistance
and asked them for their assessment of the current counter-
terrorism situation. Led by the commentaries of Judge
Bruguiere, the officials noted the advantages they operated
under, including their ability to protect the sources of
intelligence information that they use in their
investigations, the fact that they do not need to detail
facts to the same extent as in the U.S. to arrest persons,
or undertake searches and seizures or wiretaps, and the
fact that there was no jury system, no formal rules on
admissibility of evidence and no hearsay rule. There
followed a general legal discussion on these aspects of the
French system.


9. (SBU) Judge Bruguiere also outlined the two general
threat trends France was experiencing: First, that French
youth were being drawn into terrorist activities to a
greater extent, reflecting that the threat was moving from
East to West. Second, that the new terrorists were on an
increasing level of sophistication and education. Recent
arrests had demonstrated that highly educated electronics
experts had been recruited by jihadist networks for
purposes of executing attacks in Europe, and that they had
developed highly sophisticated methods for detonating
explosive charges at long distance.


10. (SBU) The Attorney General next met with Ron Noble,
Secretary General of Interpol, on March 3. The discussion

SIPDIS
commenced with the Attorney General inquiring about the
recent request for Interpol red notices made by Italy
concerning the alleged abduction of an individual from
Italy by USG officials. Noble advised that the procedure
at this stage is for Interpol to review the requests to
determine whether issuance of the red notices would be
consistent with the Interpol Constitution, which prohibits
Interpol from participating in political matters, or
pursuing politically motivated requests.


11. (SBU) Noble also briefed the AG on a number of current
issues, including a push to list with Interpol those al-
Qaida and Taliban members on the UN sanctions list so that
Interpol could generate a new kind of notice providing
details on these persons to police in member states, and to
facilitate wider contribution to and use of the Interpol
database on lost or stolen passports. Regarding
lost/stolen passports, a pilot project conducted between
Interpol and the Swiss government demonstrated that the
Interpol database could be used in real-time, leading to a
marked increase in the seizures and prosecutions for those
using false travel documents. He cited the example of one
seized passport that had been in use since April 2003, had
passed through 19 countries and had successfully gone
through border controls 46 times without being caught.


12. (SBU) Noble requested that the Attorney General
consider detailing a legal attach/prosecutor to Interpol
headquarters, given the rise in legal issues in recent
years. The Attorney General expressed concern that a DOJ
prosecutor might have to address cases that would
conceivably work against USG interests. Noble replied that
the DOJ prosecutor would always have the option of recusing
him/herself.


13. (U) Embassy Paris also organized three press events
for Attorney General Gonzales on March 3: a print press

PARIS 00002242 003 OF 004


roundtable, an interview with Radio France Internationale,
and an interview with French all-news channel LCI-TV.
Major French newspapers as well as wire services Agence
France Presse, Reuters, and Associated Press, attended his
print press roundtable. The AG took numerous questions on
Guantanamo and detainee treatment. He explained the
differences between treatment of detainees on a battlefield
and prisoners in the criminal justice system and
underscored that the U.S. treats detainees humanely and in
accord with Geneva even if they do not come under the
Geneva Convention since they are unlawful combatants. Wire
reports quoted AG Gonzales as saying: "The relationship
between French and U.S. law enforcement is outstanding,"
and, "Both countries share the common objective of
preventing terrorist attacks." The press roundtable also
triggered articles in center-left daily Libration
(circulation: 158,086) and Catholic daily La Croix
(circulation: 102,022). La Croix highlighted that, "Four
years after 9/11, the determination of the U.S. government
has not faltered when it comes to fighting against terror."


14. (U) Excerpts of his interview with the French
worldwide broadcasting radio network Radio France
Internationale (RFI-- similar to Voice of America) aired on
March 3, and the interview was aired in full in RFI's
weekly Wednesday, RFI English service program "Voices." In
the radio interview, AG Gonzales was asked about the CIA
flights controversy, and he emphasized that the U.S. is a
nation of laws that respects its legal commitments.


15. (U) The all-news television network LCI featured the
full interview in its "News of the World" program, which
was re-broadcast three times the same evening. The
Attorney General was asked about his visit to Paris, the
use of death penalty in Texas when President Bush was
governor -- AG referred to the due process of law accorded
the prisoners, and the possible death penalty for Zacharias
Moussaoui who, the AG said, has pleaded guilty and his
sentence will be decided by the Court.


16. (SBU) The Attorney General met with French Justice
Minister Pascal Clement on March 3. The two complimented
U.S.-French cooperation as "very good" on terrorism and
other legal matters. The Attorney General said Interior
Minister Sarkozy had complained that counter-terrorism
information sharing was not as robust as it could be, to
which Clement responded that in his opinion, information
sharing between U.S. and France was good. They compared
notes on the different French and U.S. legal systems. The
Attorney General reassured Clement that any information
provided by France for the Moussaoui trial would not be
used to support a death penalty conviction. He also
invited Clement to the United States. Clement thanked the
Attorney General and said he would be pleased to do so when
their schedules permitted.


17. (SBU) Clement hailed the U.S. and France's mutual
exchange of magistrates as a way to ward off any budding
legal problems between the two countries. He said the lack
of major problems to discuss was a fruit of this type of
exchange. Clement asked the AG when the U.S. would ratify
the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention, noting that
France had recently done so. The AG stated that he hoped
we would be able to overcome final Senate objections soon
and get the treaty ratified. They also discussed a number
of other issues, including the sex offenses, and
psychiatric testimony, child abduction cases, and growing
illegal drug use. At the conclusion of the meeting, the
ministers had a walk-out for the press, in which they
delivered statements regarding the issues discussed. The
Clement statement included mention of the assurance
provided by the U.S. that the evidence provided by France
in the Moussaoui case would not be used to obtain the death
penalty.


18. (U) This visit provided a good opportunity for Attorney
General Gonzales to both meet in depth key French law
enforcement officials, express U.S. appreciation for the
strong cooperative law enforcement relationship between the
two countries, as well as to explain the French public
through his interviews the United States approach to
combating terrorism. Ambassador Stapleton accompanied the
Attorney General to all of his meetings. The Attorney
General departed on March 4, 2006, for other meetings in
the United Kingdom.

PARIS 00002242 004 OF 004




19. (U) This message was approved by the Office of the Attorney
General.

STAPLETON