Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PARIS3129
2006-05-11 17:12:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Paris
Cable title:
MFA MEETS WITH JEM REJECTIONIST KHALIL IBRAHIM
how-toVZCZCXRO1729 OO RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR DE RUEHFR #3129 1311712 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 111712Z MAY 06 FM AMEMBASSY PARIS TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7238 INFO RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA IMMEDIATE 1069 RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA IMMEDIATE 0693 RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM IMMEDIATE 0089 RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA IMMEDIATE 1011 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0745 RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 0694 RUEHAE/AMEMBASSY ASMARA PRIORITY 0325 RUEHMV/AMEMBASSY MONROVIA PRIORITY 7206
C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 003129
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM CD SU FR
SUBJECT: MFA MEETS WITH JEM REJECTIONIST KHALIL IBRAHIM
REF: STATE 74589
Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Bruce Turner. Reasons 1.4b,d
C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 003129
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM CD SU FR
SUBJECT: MFA MEETS WITH JEM REJECTIONIST KHALIL IBRAHIM
REF: STATE 74589
Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Bruce Turner. Reasons 1.4b,d
1. (C) African Affairs DAS-Equivalent Helene Le Gal advised
Africa Watcher on May 10 that JEM rejectionist Khalil Ibrahim
had arrived in France and requested meetings. The MFA
decided that Le Gal should receive him May 11, but he would
not meet with A/S-Equivalent Bruno Joubert or the French
Presidency. Africa Watcher made clear the strong U.S.
preference for the radical isolation of Khalil Ibrahim;
however, Le Gal countered that the MFA did not want to cut
off contact prior to the May 15 deadline for signing on to
the Abuja accord. French Presidential Envoy de Cognac
reiterated that line to Africa Watcher on May 11, adding that
he would participate in the MFA meeting with Khalil Ibrahim.
De Cognac adamantly maintained that the door should not be
shut on the JEM. The Abuja accord was not operationally
tenable, as it stood, making it imperative to persuade more
refractory parties to come aboard. De Cognac planned to
appeal to Khalil Ibrahim for JEM cooperation on the basis of
the 2004 N'djamena ceasefire.
2. (C) Asked about Khalil Ibrahim's status in France, Le Gal
explained that he was officially a political refugee. This
status equipped him with a French laissez-passer which,
unfortunately, allowed him access to all EU countries
participating in the Schengen visa accords (reftel
demarche). The MFA was examining what leverage they could
exercise, however, the refugee status afforded Khalil Ibrahim
considerable legal protections.
3. (C) Jacques de Labriolle, Deputy in the Africa Cell at
the French Presidency, explained that both the Presidency and
the MFA had sought in vain to block Khalil Ibrahim from
gaining refugee status in December 2003, but the decision at
that time resided solely with the French Office for Refugee
Protection. That law has since been revised, he explained,
but there was no grandfather clause to strip Kahlil Ibrahim
of his political refugee status, even though he has exploited
it to incite violence. That said, Labriolle suggested that a
UN Security Council decision to sanction Khalil Ibrahim under
UNSCR 1591 (2005) might possibly create the necessary legal
grounds under French law to attack his refugee status.
4. (C) Both Le Gal and Labriolle emphasized their low regard
for Khalil Ibrahim and their belief that he would continue to
work to block application of the peace agreement in Darfur.
Le Gal suggested his attachment to Darfur was secondary to
ambitions in Chad. Labriolle labeled Khalil Ibrahim an
unreconstructed follower of Turabi whose double game had
managed to dupe certain U.S. parties into believing he was a
credible interlocutor. De Cognac however was more sanguine
and committed to the view that Khalil Ibrahim could still be
a partner for dialogue.
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm
Stapleton
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM CD SU FR
SUBJECT: MFA MEETS WITH JEM REJECTIONIST KHALIL IBRAHIM
REF: STATE 74589
Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Bruce Turner. Reasons 1.4b,d
1. (C) African Affairs DAS-Equivalent Helene Le Gal advised
Africa Watcher on May 10 that JEM rejectionist Khalil Ibrahim
had arrived in France and requested meetings. The MFA
decided that Le Gal should receive him May 11, but he would
not meet with A/S-Equivalent Bruno Joubert or the French
Presidency. Africa Watcher made clear the strong U.S.
preference for the radical isolation of Khalil Ibrahim;
however, Le Gal countered that the MFA did not want to cut
off contact prior to the May 15 deadline for signing on to
the Abuja accord. French Presidential Envoy de Cognac
reiterated that line to Africa Watcher on May 11, adding that
he would participate in the MFA meeting with Khalil Ibrahim.
De Cognac adamantly maintained that the door should not be
shut on the JEM. The Abuja accord was not operationally
tenable, as it stood, making it imperative to persuade more
refractory parties to come aboard. De Cognac planned to
appeal to Khalil Ibrahim for JEM cooperation on the basis of
the 2004 N'djamena ceasefire.
2. (C) Asked about Khalil Ibrahim's status in France, Le Gal
explained that he was officially a political refugee. This
status equipped him with a French laissez-passer which,
unfortunately, allowed him access to all EU countries
participating in the Schengen visa accords (reftel
demarche). The MFA was examining what leverage they could
exercise, however, the refugee status afforded Khalil Ibrahim
considerable legal protections.
3. (C) Jacques de Labriolle, Deputy in the Africa Cell at
the French Presidency, explained that both the Presidency and
the MFA had sought in vain to block Khalil Ibrahim from
gaining refugee status in December 2003, but the decision at
that time resided solely with the French Office for Refugee
Protection. That law has since been revised, he explained,
but there was no grandfather clause to strip Kahlil Ibrahim
of his political refugee status, even though he has exploited
it to incite violence. That said, Labriolle suggested that a
UN Security Council decision to sanction Khalil Ibrahim under
UNSCR 1591 (2005) might possibly create the necessary legal
grounds under French law to attack his refugee status.
4. (C) Both Le Gal and Labriolle emphasized their low regard
for Khalil Ibrahim and their belief that he would continue to
work to block application of the peace agreement in Darfur.
Le Gal suggested his attachment to Darfur was secondary to
ambitions in Chad. Labriolle labeled Khalil Ibrahim an
unreconstructed follower of Turabi whose double game had
managed to dupe certain U.S. parties into believing he was a
credible interlocutor. De Cognac however was more sanguine
and committed to the view that Khalil Ibrahim could still be
a partner for dialogue.
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm
Stapleton