MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Iranian President in Syria -

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000379 SIPDIS DEPT FOR INR/R/MR; IIP/RW; IIP/RNY; BBG/VOA; IIP/WEU; AF/PA; EUR/WE /P/SP; D/C (MCCOO); EUR/PA; INR/P; INR/EUC; PM; OSC ISA FOR ILN; NEA; WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE; DOC FOR ITA/EUR/FR AND PASS USTR/PA; USINCEUR FOR PAO; NATO/PA; MOSCOW/PA; ROME/PA; USVIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE. E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR FR SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Iranian President in Syria - Ben Laden's Threats PARIS - Friday, January 20, 2006 (A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: Iranian President in Syria Ben Laden's Threats (B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: Left-of-center Le Monde's front page deals with President Chirac's speech on the subject of nuclear deterrence. The daily claims that the speech was intended to reassure the French that nuclear deterrence remains an essential part of the French arsenal. The daily asks: "In a post-Cold War world where Russia is a diplomatic partner to France and NATO is looking to define its role is it really necessary to have a nuclear arsenal?" Right-of-center Le Figaro this morning also leads with President Chirac's speech: "France Adapting its Power of Deterrence to the Threat of Terrorism." For Le Figaro what is especially significant about the speech is that it marks the first time, since 9/11, that the French president has associated nuclear deterrence and terrorism. For Liberation "Chirac is Sticking His Chest Out." International news today includes the visit to Syria of Iranian president Ahmadinejad (See Part C) and French FM Douste-Blazy's visit to Russia. For left-of-center Le Monde the issues that the French FM and his Russian counterpart will discuss are such a priority for the two countries that the "more touchy subjects" such as Chechnya, "will have to wait." The Ivory Coast continues to get some play and media all report the "relative calming" of the situation noting the efforts of Olusegun Obasanjo, the Nigerian president and chairman of the African Union, who flew to the Ivory Coast on Wednesday to try to end the violence. Left-of-center Le Monde's editorial puts forward that the return to calm "shows that the threat of sanctions works." Right-of-center Le Figaro's front page also announces that: "Ben Laden Has Re-appeared and is Threatening the U.S." This elicits a number of commentaries from the regional press especially in light of President Chirac's speech on using nuclear deterrence as a weapon against the threat of terrorism. (See Part C) (C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: Iranian President in Syria "The Syrian and Iranian Presidents Make Common Cause" Thierry Oberle in right-of-center Le Figaro (01/20): "For his first official bilateral meeting since being elected, the Iranian president's choice of meeting with Syrian president Bachar al Assad may seem odd: Iran is an Islamic republic run by clerics while Syria is a secular Arab state. But the degree of international pressure that has been exerted on these two countries makes them inevitable partners in their refusal to give in. Ahmadinejad's trip has been timed to prove that he is not as isolated on the international scene as some have said, but it is especially intended to prove to Muslim public opinion that Iran has the unwavering support of an Arab capital in its tug-of-war with the west." Ben Laden's Threats "Psychological Propaganda" In regional daily Les Dernieres Nouvelles d'Alsace editorialist Jean-Claude Kiefer writes (01/20): "Ben Laden's low cost propaganda is entirely based on psychology and the characteristically oriental method of lulling people into a false sense of security after a long period of silence. Unfortunately this is a frighteningly effective method that promotes, among other things, proselytizing. Throughout France and Europe recruiters for the Jihad are afoot. This serves to show, to the rest of the world, that the U.S. is in a stalemate with its public enemy number one. Like it or not, in the suburbs of Casablanca or the slums of Cairo, in the Palestinian refugee camps or the tribal zones of Pakistan Ben Laden is a hero. The west needs to face facts: al Qaeda and its followers could not survive without the help of established organizations that protect them. There is a good deal of double talk in the Middle East." "The Devil in the Box" In regional Le Progres, Francis Brochet (01/20): "The devil has once again sprung out of his box. But is it really him? In the end it does not truly matter who it is, the goal has been achieved: to revive the threat, keep up the terror. Ben Laden, or his epigones, clearly know how to use modern media. Leading us to believe that he is everywhere, can strike anywhere and at anytime. This is untrue but the threat is terribly effective. To use nuclear deterrence as a weapon against the specter of terrorism, as Jacques Chirac underscored yesterday, seems surreal. To bomb what? Iraq, Afghanistan Pakistan? That has already been done. and only highlights further the difficulty of fighting a nebulous entity such as al Qaeda. "Deterrence" Regional daily La Republique du Centre's editorialist Jacques Camus (01/20): "It is hard not to subscribe to President Chirac's theory on nuclear deterrence when Ben Laden has re- surfaced and `rogue' states are threatening to build the bomb. But the only real question that we should be asking ourselves today is if France has the means to live up to its ambitions? Obviously the answer is no and the solution is a common European defense which is far from being a reality today. It seems that some prefer to remain under the protection of the American shield even if it means swallowing their national pride." STAPLETON