Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PARIS6340
2006-09-21 14:05:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Paris
Cable title:
FRANCE SETS CONDITION ON PARTICIPATION IN SRI
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C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 006340
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2016
TAGS: MARR PHUM PINS PREL PTER CE
SUBJECT: FRANCE SETS CONDITION ON PARTICIPATION IN SRI
LANKA CONTACT GROUP
REF: A) STATE 149054 B) GORDON/GOWER E-MAILS 9/12 AND
9/20
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, reasons
1.4 (b) and (d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 006340
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2016
TAGS: MARR PHUM PINS PREL PTER CE
SUBJECT: FRANCE SETS CONDITION ON PARTICIPATION IN SRI
LANKA CONTACT GROUP
REF: A) STATE 149054 B) GORDON/GOWER E-MAILS 9/12 AND
9/20
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, reasons
1.4 (b) and (d).
1. (C) Summary: The GoF will send a three-person interagency
delegation to the Sri Lanka contact group meeting on
September 27. The MFA is asking that all discussions in the
contact group remain strictly confidential, that the Sri
Lankan government receive only the most general briefing on
the group's activities, and that Sri Lanka agree not to
discuss the contact group with the press. France is
concerned that the existence of the contact group could be
used by the Sri Lankan government as a pretext for derailing
the resumption of peace talks set to resume in Oslo during
the first week of October. End Summary.
2. (U) Per Ref A, we met September 11 with Sonia Barbry, MFA
desk officer for Sri Lanka, to inform the GoF of the contact
group meeting. On September 20, Barbry said France would
send three participants to the meeting, one from the EMBASSY
in Washington, one from the counterrorism unit at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and one from the intelligence
unit at the Ministry of the Interior. The specific
participants will be determined by September 22.
3. (C) Barbry stated that while France intends to participate
in and supports the aims of the contact group, it is wary
that the timing of the meeting could impede Norwegian
mediators' efforts to bring the government and the Tamil
Tigers back to the table for the first time since April. She
cited Norway's criticism of the EU's decision to place the
Tamil Tigers on a list of terrorist groups, complaining that
it provided the Sri Lankan government with a potential
pretext for suspending negotiations.
4. (C) To ensure that the contact group remained both
effective and low-profile, the MFA proposed three conditions.
First, it wants assurance from all members of the group that
the discussions will be strictly confidential and will not be
shared with the press or other non-governmental
organizations. Second, the MFA asked that any subsequent
briefings given to the Sri Lankan government be as general as
possible. In that way, group members would feel free to
speak openly and share information with each other, and no
outside groups could claim that the contact group was
beholden to the Sri Lankan government and under pressure to
provide regular reports to the GoS concerning its activities.
Finally, France does not want the Sri Lankan government to
share the briefing with the press.
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm
STAPLETON
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2016
TAGS: MARR PHUM PINS PREL PTER CE
SUBJECT: FRANCE SETS CONDITION ON PARTICIPATION IN SRI
LANKA CONTACT GROUP
REF: A) STATE 149054 B) GORDON/GOWER E-MAILS 9/12 AND
9/20
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, reasons
1.4 (b) and (d).
1. (C) Summary: The GoF will send a three-person interagency
delegation to the Sri Lanka contact group meeting on
September 27. The MFA is asking that all discussions in the
contact group remain strictly confidential, that the Sri
Lankan government receive only the most general briefing on
the group's activities, and that Sri Lanka agree not to
discuss the contact group with the press. France is
concerned that the existence of the contact group could be
used by the Sri Lankan government as a pretext for derailing
the resumption of peace talks set to resume in Oslo during
the first week of October. End Summary.
2. (U) Per Ref A, we met September 11 with Sonia Barbry, MFA
desk officer for Sri Lanka, to inform the GoF of the contact
group meeting. On September 20, Barbry said France would
send three participants to the meeting, one from the EMBASSY
in Washington, one from the counterrorism unit at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and one from the intelligence
unit at the Ministry of the Interior. The specific
participants will be determined by September 22.
3. (C) Barbry stated that while France intends to participate
in and supports the aims of the contact group, it is wary
that the timing of the meeting could impede Norwegian
mediators' efforts to bring the government and the Tamil
Tigers back to the table for the first time since April. She
cited Norway's criticism of the EU's decision to place the
Tamil Tigers on a list of terrorist groups, complaining that
it provided the Sri Lankan government with a potential
pretext for suspending negotiations.
4. (C) To ensure that the contact group remained both
effective and low-profile, the MFA proposed three conditions.
First, it wants assurance from all members of the group that
the discussions will be strictly confidential and will not be
shared with the press or other non-governmental
organizations. Second, the MFA asked that any subsequent
briefings given to the Sri Lankan government be as general as
possible. In that way, group members would feel free to
speak openly and share information with each other, and no
outside groups could claim that the contact group was
beholden to the Sri Lankan government and under pressure to
provide regular reports to the GoS concerning its activities.
Finally, France does not want the Sri Lankan government to
share the briefing with the press.
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm
STAPLETON