Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PARIS4080
2006-06-15 14:56:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Paris
Cable title:  

NUDGING DEBY ON DIALOGUE. MFA REMARKS ON CHAD,

Tags:  PREL PHUM PINR IV CT TO CD FR 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 004080 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM PINR IV CT TO CD FR
SUBJECT: NUDGING DEBY ON DIALOGUE. MFA REMARKS ON CHAD,
C.A.R., TOGO, AND COTE D'IVOIRE

REF: A. NDJAMENA 828 B. D'ELIA-AF/W E-MAILS

PARIS 00004080 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Josiah B. Rosenblatt. Reas
ons 1.4b,d

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 004080

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM PINR IV CT TOGO'>TO CD FR
SUBJECT: NUDGING DEBY ON DIALOGUE. MFA REMARKS ON CHAD,
C.A.R., TOGO, AND COTE D'IVOIRE

REF: A. NDJAMENA 828 B. D'ELIA-AF/W E-MAILS

PARIS 00004080 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Josiah B. Rosenblatt. Reas
ons 1.4b,d


1. (C) Summary: French Minister of Cooperation Girardin
will deliver a clear message to President Deby in Chad this
week on the necessity for national dialogue, according to MFA
AF DAS-Equivalent Foucher. The unusual presence of French
Presidential Africa Adviser Bonnecorse on Girardin's trip
constitutes a direct message from President Chirac that Deby
must launch a process of national dialogue built around 2007
legislative elections, drawing on assistance from the
European Union. Foucher regretted diplomatic missteps by EU
Commissioner for Development Michel that had incited Deby's
public repudiation of "foreign" interference. Foucher argued
that French support for Deby was far from unequivocal and
that there had been an animated debate within the GOF during
the April rebel offensive on the limits of French support.
Foucher described mounting MFA worries about backsliding in
the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) and the dramatic surge
in Chinese involvement, with PRC bilateral assistance now
surpassing aid from Paris. Turning to TOGO, Foucher branded
Paris-based opposition leader an obstacle to national
dialogue. Regarding French policy-making on Cote d'Ivoire,
Foucher underscored the marginalization of Nathalie de La
Palme, an MFA adviser who had been the principal architect of
the 2003 Linas-Marcoussis Accord. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Chad, Ivory Coast and the Central African Republic
currently comprise the main preoccupations for MFA AF
DAS-Equivalent Bruno Foucher, he stated in a June 12 meeting
with Africa Watcher. Foucher, whose area of responsibility
covers West and Central Africa, including Chad but not DRC or
Congo/Brazzaville, remarked that the MFA Africa bureau has
supported 54 ministerial-level visits to African countries
since January, most in his bailliwick. Both Foucher and

Presidential Africa Adviser Michel de Bonnecorse will
accompany the Minister for Cooperation for June 15 meetings
in Chad aimed at driving national dialogue.

Chad: Deby Must Engage; EU Must lead
--------------


3. (C) Minister for Cooperation Brigitte Girardin will meet
with Chadian President Deby circa June 15 to drive home to
President Deby the need for outreach and dialogue with the
non-violent national dialogue. The presence of Presidential
Africa Advisor Bonnecorse is highly unusual and a clear
signal to Deby that Girardin is carrying a direct message
from Chirac on the necessity of engagement, Foucher added.
All the same, France does not wish to be out front in pushing
reform and relies on the EU to take the lead, Foucher said,
noting French support for the recent EU Troika initiative.
The EU had the finances and the know-how to underwrite a
series of governance seminars on a regular basis, setting the
2007 legislative elections as the goal-posts. However,
Foucher volunteered that EU Commissioner for Development
Louis Michel was rather a loose cannon. Michel had provoked
Deby by an overly direct, impolitic and patronizing follow-up
letter to the earlier EU Troika call for dialogue; hence,
Deby's blast against "foreign" or international involvement
in the process (Ref A).

French Support for Deby not Unequivocal
--------------


4. (C/NF) Foucher insisted that French policy on Chad,
specifically French support for Deby, was less clear-cut than
might appear. In the heat of the April FUCD offensive,
Bonnecorse had convoked what Foucher described as a very
gripping emergency meeting at which it was not self-evident,
he maintained, whether France would stand by Deby. The
argument that Deby had no proper successor won the day -- and
continues to do so -- and that same meeting saw the explicit
decision taken, Foucher revealed, for French forces to fire
the famous warning shot on April 12 against an advancing
rebel column. Told that French intelligence and logistical
support had clearly proved decisive in Deby's repulsing the
FUCD offensive, Foucher countered that Deby, in the end, had

PARIS 00004080 002.2 OF 003


insisted on going it alone, refusing a French offer of
airlift and instead force-marching troops from the east
overnight into N'djamena for the showdown in the city. Asked
if Deby had sought to deliver the coup de grace without
French help for symbolic reasons, Foucher demurred, admitting
he believed Deby opted for the overland route because the
airlift lacked the capacity to transport certain heavy
weaponry and munitions he needed.


Central African Republic: Beijing Eclipsing Paris?
-------------- --------------


5. (C) After emerging from turbulence to hold a proper
election, the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) is rapidly
backsliding, worrying the French MFA and Presidency.
A/S-Equivalent for African Affairs Bruno Joubert initiated an
interagency task force on June 9, including MOD, Finance,
Development, and MFA. Although there has been some easing in
the availability of multilateral assistance thanks to an
agreement with the IMF and headway with the World Bank, there
has been no commensurate growth in bilateral assistance --
with a key exception. France is troubled at the degree of
Chinese encroachment, Foucher said, noting, with
astonishment, that Chinese aid to C.A.R. in 2005 had
surpassed that of France.

TOGO: Gilchrist Olympio Impedes Dialogue
--------------


6. (C/NF) Africa Watcher noted that he had again been
approached by self-imposed TOGOlese exile and principal
opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio, who was now looking for
international help in unblocking the naming of a UN mediator
(Ref B). Foucher branded Olympio himself as the chief
obstacle. Regarding the claim, advanced by Olympio's own
lieutenants, that the veteran Olympio is all that is holding
back a radicalization of the TOGOlese opposition, Foucher
responded that was hogwash. Told that Olympio claimed to
talk regularly by telephone with EC Commissioner for
Development Louis Michel and with Kofi Annan, whom he knew
from Ghana, Foucher remarked that Michel (whom Foucher had
earlier criticized for his tactless diplomacy) had told the
MFA he found Olympio despicable. Should Olympio travel to
Washington, as he has proposed, Foucher predicted he would
exploit any encounter with U.S. officials; a meeting on UN
premises in New York, however, struck him as less
problematic. Foucher admitted he had never met Olympio
personally, noting his marginalization by the MFA and French
Presidency was a policy decision.

Cote d'Ivoire and the Downfall of a French Africanist
-------------- --------------


7. (C/NF) Africa Watcher queried Foucher on the role of
Nathalie de La Palme, the chief adviser on Africa to Villepin
during his tenure as Foreign Minister, and the architect of
the 2003 Linas-Marcoussis Accord. Though still attached to
the MFA, de La Palme was now definitively a non-player,
Foucher replied. Bonnecorse had sidelined her, and
Presidential Chirac had personally relieved her of her role
on Cote d'Ivoire, in particular, when it became evident she
had grown too comfortable with President Gbagbo and his
coterie. The last straw came when de La Palme nonetheless
tried to organize a separate trip to Abidjan to coincide with
a meeting of the International Working Group. La Palme had
denied charges of seeking to lead parallel bilateral
discussions, but the MFA found out the French embassy in
Abidjan had in fact been tasked by her to organize a program
of high-level meetings. Regarding Minister for Cooperation
Brigitte Girardin, Foucher was lavish in his praise,
describing her as a real policy player on Africa, squarely in
the driver's seat on Cote d'Ivoire, and a confidante of the
French Presidency.

Comment: A Straight-Shooter who works well with the U.S.
-------------- --------------


8. (C/NF) Comment and Biographical Note: Foucher is
pragmatic and frank, a straightshooter and valued embassy

PARIS 00004080 003.2 OF 003


contact. Recruited personally by Joubert despite no
diplomatic service in Africa, Foucher is far from the
traditional French Africanist, though he oversees the largest
and for Paris the most challenging division within the MFA
Africa Bureau. His career includes postings in Teheran and
Riyadh, in addition to IO-related service and a four-year
stint with the French delegation to the United Nations in New
York. He also claims to have been a liaison to tribal groups
key to 2001 Northern Alliance forces in Afghanistan, once
remarking that, had he not linked himself through Joubert to
Africa, he would have coveted an ambassadorship in Kabul.
The 45-year old Foucher is now on the shortlist for a number
of key embassies in Africa, including N'djamena (protect),
subject to a decision this summer by the Prime Minister.
Evidently, Foucher works well with others, certainly with
Joubert and Bonnecorse. He respects Bonnecorse, whom he
claims deserves credit for his quiet efforts at undoing the
worst traditions of "la Francafrique," an era that Foucher
claims is definitively at an end.


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