DEPARTING MFA NEA A/S-EQUIVALENT JEAN-FRANCOIS

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 004386

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2016
TAGS: PINR XF MO FR
SUBJECT: DEPARTING MFA NEA A/S-EQUIVALENT JEAN-FRANCOIS
THIBAULT NAMED NEW FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO MOROCCO

Classified By: POL/MC Josiah Rosenblatt for reasons 1.4 (b/d).


1. (U) Post offers the following biographic report on
Jean-Francois Thibault, newly named French Ambassador to
Rabat, who leaves his current position as MFA A/S-equivalent
for North Africa/Middle East on June 27, 2006 and is expected
to arrive in Rabat shortly thereafter. His MFA successor has
not been named yet.


2. (U) Jean-Francois Thibault was named ambassador,
extraordinary and plenipotentary, to Morocco on June 16,

2006. Thibault served as the MFA,s North Africa/Middle East
Director (A/S-equivalent) from January 2005 - June 2006. A
career diplomat, Thibault was seconded to the staff of
Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie as a consultant in the
exportation of arms and munitions from 2003-05. He also
served as Ambassador to Mauritania from 2001-03, and to the
United Arab Emirates from 1997-2001.


3. (U) Thibault entered the French Foreign Service in 1973,
serving brief tours in the MFA,s Orient (that is, near and
middle east) bureau and the cultural relations directorate
before leaving the MFA in 1974 to fulfill his his military
service obligation. Returning to the MFA, he served in
Manama (1975-76),Rabat (1976-79),and Abu Dhabi (1979-81).
He was a member of France,s permanent delegation to the
United Nations in New York from 1981-85, before being
seconded to the government-owned oil company, Elf-Aquitaine,
from 1985-90.


4. (U) Following a three-year period of voluntary leave, he
returned to the MFA to work in the economic affairs and
finance directorate from 1993-94. From 1994-97, he was
under-director for industrial questions and sensitive exports.


5. (SBU) Thibault was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine on May 1,

1949. He is a graduate of the Institute of Political Studies
and the National School of Living Oriental Languages. He
holds a degree in public law. Thibault is married to the
former Catherine Dubois. The couple has two children. His
speaks excellent English, and some Arabic.


6. (C) Post has found Thibault to be an open and affable
interlocutor, and refreshingly free of the Quai s'Orsay's
stereotypical arrogance or smugness. Thibault's 18-month
tenure as director has been viewed by many of his
subordinates as a period of declining influence for his
bureau, during which the Presidency or other MFA actors have
dominated French policy on Syria/Lebanon, Iran, and the
Israeli-Palestinian issue. We have also found that it took
Thibault some time to achieve genuine command of the key
issues in his area of responsiblity. Thibault -- also
somewhat exceptional for the Quai -- works in an inclusive
way, often turning to subordinates for details and commentary
at meetings. His assignment to Morocco -- described by many
GoF officials as France's "most special" partner in the
entire NEA region (including Lebanon) -- suggests he is being
rewarded for a job well done and has the full confidence of
the Presidency, though he is not quite the Elysee insider his
immediate predecessor, current Ambassador to Lebanon Bernard
Emie was.


Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm

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