Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PARIS5106
2006-07-27 15:08:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Paris
Cable title:
CHAD: FORMER FM SALEH KEBZABO CRITICIZES DEBY AND
how-toVZCZCXRO3037 RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR DE RUEHFR #5106 2081508 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 271508Z JUL 06 FM AMEMBASSY PARIS TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9862 INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA 1072
C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 005106
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/2016
TAGS: PREL PINR PINS CD FR
SUBJECT: CHAD: FORMER FM SALEH KEBZABO CRITICIZES DEBY AND
FRANCE
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah B. Rosenblatt, Reaso
n 1.5 (b/d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 005106
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/2016
TAGS: PREL PINR PINS CD FR
SUBJECT: CHAD: FORMER FM SALEH KEBZABO CRITICIZES DEBY AND
FRANCE
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah B. Rosenblatt, Reaso
n 1.5 (b/d).
1. (C) SUMMARY: Former Chad FM Saleh Kebzabo (1996-1997)
called on Africa Watcher July 6 to discuss current
developments in Chad and the region. Kebzabo,s distaste for
Deby and his government was easily discernible. Kebzabo saw
little hope that Deby would engage with opposition figures.
Kebzabo said the current French ambassador in N'djamena was a
Deby apologist and declared that French support for Deby
would have a lasting negative impact on the image of France
in Chad. He said he planned to meet separately with
President Chirac's Africa Counselor Bonnecorse and with MFA
AF A/S-Equivalent Joubert. END SUMMARY.
2. (C) Saleh Kebzabo, former Foreign Minister of Chad from
1996-1997 and current president of the National Union for
Development and Renewal (UNDR),called on Africa Watcher on
July 6 to discuss political developments in Chad. Kebzabo
stressed the beneficial role that countries such as the U.S.
and Germany were playing within Chad in encouraging enduring
democratic reforms. Kebzabo described the heavily boycotted
May 3 presidential election as a farce and said that it was
indicative of the political facade President Deby has created
to keep criticism at bay. Kebzabo maintained that Deby
incites and benefits from instability in Chad as a means of
avoiding democratic accountability and transparency in his
government. This lack of transparency was evident in the
highly contentious constitutional referendum of 2005 that
allowed Deby to seek a third presidential term. Kebzabo
likened Deby,s recalcitrance toward legislative elections
and broader political reforms to what he called the French
tradition of empowering individual political figures rather
than creating enduring political institutions.
3. (C) French support of Deby,s government remained
steadfast, though Paris may be beginning to look for other
approaches because of international pressure, Kebzabo
suggested. He said that the current French ambassador in
N'djamena was a Deby apologist, and declared that French
support for Deby would have a lasting negative impact on the
image of France in Chad. He singled out as a turning point
in Chadian perceptions the 2005 Bastille Day speech by the
French ambassador, which implicitly justified Deby's arrests
and intimidation of journalists. The USG had gained lasting
credit, he assessed, thanks to the intervention by the U.S.
Ambassador in defense of freedom of the press.
4. (C) While the French may now be joining others in
calling for Deby to engage the opposition in dialogue,
Kebzabo was cautious about any sea-change in French policy.
He postulated that real change will have to wait until after
the 2007 French presidential election, with the caveat that,
even then, a complete reversal of France,s support of Deby
is unlikely. Overall, Kebzabo was very critical of French
involvement and interests in Chad. When asked about
French-backed military reforms undertaken by Deby,s
government, Kebzabo was extremely skeptical that they would
actually prove fruitful. He pointed to the failed military
reforms of 1991 and 1992 as examples of France,s inability
to support the drastic structural changes Chad truly needs.
With the French so deeply wedded to the belief that there is
no alternative to Deby, Kebzabo called for stepped-up
engagement by other international players in order to promote
change.
5. (C) Kebzabo appeared optimistic that, with increased
international involvement, transparency and democratic rule
would eventually begin to take hold in Chadian politics.
However, he said that it is not enough for actors such as the
USG to champion the need for democratic processes and good
governance without their also applying pressure on leaders.
Kebzabo rebuked the international community for allowing
World Bank concessions in the dispute over Fund for the
Future monies.
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm
STAPLETON
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/2016
TAGS: PREL PINR PINS CD FR
SUBJECT: CHAD: FORMER FM SALEH KEBZABO CRITICIZES DEBY AND
FRANCE
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah B. Rosenblatt, Reaso
n 1.5 (b/d).
1. (C) SUMMARY: Former Chad FM Saleh Kebzabo (1996-1997)
called on Africa Watcher July 6 to discuss current
developments in Chad and the region. Kebzabo,s distaste for
Deby and his government was easily discernible. Kebzabo saw
little hope that Deby would engage with opposition figures.
Kebzabo said the current French ambassador in N'djamena was a
Deby apologist and declared that French support for Deby
would have a lasting negative impact on the image of France
in Chad. He said he planned to meet separately with
President Chirac's Africa Counselor Bonnecorse and with MFA
AF A/S-Equivalent Joubert. END SUMMARY.
2. (C) Saleh Kebzabo, former Foreign Minister of Chad from
1996-1997 and current president of the National Union for
Development and Renewal (UNDR),called on Africa Watcher on
July 6 to discuss political developments in Chad. Kebzabo
stressed the beneficial role that countries such as the U.S.
and Germany were playing within Chad in encouraging enduring
democratic reforms. Kebzabo described the heavily boycotted
May 3 presidential election as a farce and said that it was
indicative of the political facade President Deby has created
to keep criticism at bay. Kebzabo maintained that Deby
incites and benefits from instability in Chad as a means of
avoiding democratic accountability and transparency in his
government. This lack of transparency was evident in the
highly contentious constitutional referendum of 2005 that
allowed Deby to seek a third presidential term. Kebzabo
likened Deby,s recalcitrance toward legislative elections
and broader political reforms to what he called the French
tradition of empowering individual political figures rather
than creating enduring political institutions.
3. (C) French support of Deby,s government remained
steadfast, though Paris may be beginning to look for other
approaches because of international pressure, Kebzabo
suggested. He said that the current French ambassador in
N'djamena was a Deby apologist, and declared that French
support for Deby would have a lasting negative impact on the
image of France in Chad. He singled out as a turning point
in Chadian perceptions the 2005 Bastille Day speech by the
French ambassador, which implicitly justified Deby's arrests
and intimidation of journalists. The USG had gained lasting
credit, he assessed, thanks to the intervention by the U.S.
Ambassador in defense of freedom of the press.
4. (C) While the French may now be joining others in
calling for Deby to engage the opposition in dialogue,
Kebzabo was cautious about any sea-change in French policy.
He postulated that real change will have to wait until after
the 2007 French presidential election, with the caveat that,
even then, a complete reversal of France,s support of Deby
is unlikely. Overall, Kebzabo was very critical of French
involvement and interests in Chad. When asked about
French-backed military reforms undertaken by Deby,s
government, Kebzabo was extremely skeptical that they would
actually prove fruitful. He pointed to the failed military
reforms of 1991 and 1992 as examples of France,s inability
to support the drastic structural changes Chad truly needs.
With the French so deeply wedded to the belief that there is
no alternative to Deby, Kebzabo called for stepped-up
engagement by other international players in order to promote
change.
5. (C) Kebzabo appeared optimistic that, with increased
international involvement, transparency and democratic rule
would eventually begin to take hold in Chadian politics.
However, he said that it is not enough for actors such as the
USG to champion the need for democratic processes and good
governance without their also applying pressure on leaders.
Kebzabo rebuked the international community for allowing
World Bank concessions in the dispute over Fund for the
Future monies.
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm
STAPLETON