C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 004854

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/13/2016
TAGS: FR IO PK PREL
SUBJECT: PAKISTANI FM KASURI'S JULY 5 MEETING WITH FRENCH
FM DOUSTE-BLAZY


Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Will Owen for reasons 1.4 (b/
d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri
discussed a range of issues with French Foreign Minister
Philippe Douste-Blazy in meetings in Paris on July 5.
According to the MFA's Pakistan desk officer, Kasuri appeared
stunned when Douste-Blazy requested a list of the sensitive
technologies transferred by Pakistani scientist Khan to Iran.
Kasuri brushed aside concerns about Iran's delaying tactics,
suggesting the dispute between the P5 1 and Iran over
whether Iran should respond to the incentives package
amounted to "a couple of weeks." Kasuri likened the Israeli
reaction to the abduction of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit to the
"tactics employed by the Third Reich." On the bilateral
front the GoF and Pakistan discussed enlarging their areas of
cooperation and creating a strategic partnership. END
SUMMARY.

UN REFORM AND IRAN
--------------

2. (C) PolOff met with French MFA Pakistan desk officer Cyril
Gerardon on July 11 for readout of the Kasuri/Douste-Blazy
meetings in Paris on July 5. On the subject of UN reform,
Gerardon reported that Kasuri emphasized that the UN needed
to become more "egalitarian," and added that this could not
be achieved if Pakistan were not given a seat on the Security
Council along with India. Switching to Iran, Douste-Blazy
inquired about Abdul Qader Khan,s nuclear dealings with
Iran, and asked if Pakistan would provide a listing of
sensitive technologies, destinations, and financial
information concerning technology transfers to Iran. Kasuri,
surprised by the question, answered that that information had
already been provided to the satisfaction of the United
States. Given his respected position as the father of
Pakistan's nuclear program, Kahn could not be punished for
his actions, Kasuri concluded.


3. (C) Kasuri continued by saying that the recent dispute
between the P5 1 and Iran over whether Iran should respond
to the incentives package in mid-July or early August

amounted to a difference of a "couple of weeks," which,
Kasuri contended, was minor. He added that there was a large
Iranian domestic component to the Iranian nuclear issue that
the West should not ignore. Kasuri expressed regret that
acrimony between the U.S. and Iran was preventing the two
countries from better exploiting their many convergent
interests. He said that the U.S. and Iran would both benefit
from stable governments in Iraq and Afghanistan; he said that
both countries were against the Taliban in Afghanistan and
against the Baathist and Wahabi resistance in Iraq. Sadly,
he added, neither government seems willing to work with the
other in pursuit of common goals.

ISRAEL
--------------

4. (C) While Douste-Blazy said that the Israeli reaction to
the abduction of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit was
disproportionate, Kasuri called it completely inhumane and
likened it, Gerardon said, to "strategies and tactics
employed by the Third Reich." Kasuri claimed that Pakistan,
perhaps more than any other Muslim nation, has reached out to
Jews, and he cited Pakistani President Musharraf's meeting
with members of the American Jewish Committee. Kasuri said
that Musharraf viewed contact with an "enlightened Jewish
community" -- that recognized the utility of compromising
with the Palestinians -- as a means of progressing towards a
peaceful solution to the conflict. He added that recent
Israeli actions have dampened Pakistani optimism that such a
solution is attainable with the current Israeli government.
Kasuri opined that the U.S., with elections coming up and
concerns about Iraq, was limited in what it could do to
improve the situation.

RUSSIA
--------------

5. (C) Kasuri expressed shock and anger in response to
Russian President Vladimir Putin,s statement following the
killing of five Russian diplomats in Iraq. Kasuri, who
showed little sympathy for the Russian president through the
meetings, thought that the heavy-handed statement ran the
risk of exacerbating tensions between the Muslim world and
the West. Kasuri encouraged France to combat negative
stereotypes of Islam and Muslims in France and in the EU
saying that ordinary Pakistanis were very much concerned with
Western portrayals of Islam, which regularly received
prominent play in the Pakistani press.

2007 ELECTIONS

--------------

6. (C) Douste-Blazy pushed for democratic elections in
Pakistan in 2007 in accordance with the expectations of the
international community. Kasuri, while never promising that
such elections would occur, affirmed that the underpinnings
of a more democratic society were already in place in
Pakistan, such as a free press (Kasuri called it an "unruly
press") and a parliament that had been duly elected.

BILATERAL
--------------

7. (C) On the bilateral front, the GoF and Pakistan discussed
enlarging their areas of cooperation and creating a strategic
partnership (Gerardon explained that the term Strategic
Partnership, in the case of Pakistan did not put it on par
with the strategic partnership France already enjoys with
India). France and Pakistan agreed to establish a technical
university in Karachi, and Kasuri pushed for a Renault
assembly plant to be built in Karachi. The two parties also
discussed the sale of armaments, though Gerardon said
Douste-Blazy stressed the importance of controlling access to
dual-use technologies.
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm

STAPLETON