FRIENDSHIP TREATY WITH FRANCE ON INDEFINITE HOLD

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 000066

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV FR AG
SUBJECT: FRIENDSHIP TREATY WITH FRANCE ON INDEFINITE HOLD


Classified By: DCM Thomas F. Daughton; reasons 1.4 (b/d).


1. (C) French Political Counselor Francois Penguilly told
PolEc Chief over lunch January 19 that it was doubtful France
and Algeria would agree to sign the long-pending Friendship
Treaty between them any time soon. Penguilly said the first
obstacle to overcome was the French presidential elections in
May. There was "no chance," he said, the treaty would be
signed before France had a new president. As for upcoming
Algerian elections, Penguilly maintained that both the
parliamentary elections planned for May and the local
elections expected in October were largely irrelevant to
finalizing the treaty.

FRENCH POLITICS ARE AN OBSTACLE...
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2. (C) Penguilly explained that Algeria originally balked at
signing the treaty in winter 2005, after the French
parliament adopted legislation February 23 of that year
noting the positive effects of the French colonial period on
Algeria's development. In reaction to the Algerian anger
that followed, Penguilly said President Chirac arranged for
the French constitutional court to rule the provision
invalid. That good faith effort, observed Penguilly, was
insufficient to calm the Algerian political scene. Once
Chirac removed the major obstacle of the offending language,
the Algerians began to erect other barriers, particularly the
lengthy time needed to process visas for Algerians traveling
to France.


3. (C) Penguilly said that French Interior Minister Nicolas
Sarkozy removed the visa obstacle during his November visit
to Algiers. Sarkozy created an obstacle of his own, however,
when he let it be known publicly and privately that the
Friendship Treaty was not something he viewed favorably.
Since Sarkozy at the time was already expected to be the
center-right candidate for president (and has since been
formally nominated),Penguilly observed that his negative
signals carried considerable weight. While Penguilly
stressed that Algerian officials privately acknowledged that
Sarkozy intended his remarks for a French domestic political
audience, the Friendship Treaty took yet another step back.
(Note: As if to highlight the political nature of his visit,
Sarkozy laid a wreath inscribed with his name but no mention
of his title at the monument to those who died in the war of
independence from France. Penguilly underscored that
omitting the title was entirely inconsistent with standard
French protocol for such visits.)

...BUT THE ALGERIAN POLITICAL HURDLE IS GREATER
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4. (C) Penguilly said the source of his pessimism on
fastracking the signature of the Friendship Treaty after the
upcoming French elections was the rich political dividend
that beating up on the French paid in Algerian politics. He
observed that after Sarkozy repaired the visa problem, the
Algerians came up with other (unspecified) "excuses" to avoid
finalizing the Treaty. As an example of Algerian readiness
and willingness to hold up the Friendship Treaty as a symbol
for French ill-treatment of Algeria, Penguilly described how
senior Algerian officials at a January 18 public forum on
demining efforts said Algeria could not sign the Friendship
Treaty so long as French mines left over from the colonial
period were not removed. Never mind, scoffed Penguilly, that
the whole purpose of the conference was to highlight
bilateral cooperation in removing the mines. Such exchanges,
he underscored, made him pessimistic that the treaty would be
signed any time soon.

TIME HEALS ALL WOUNDS
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5. (C) The one bright spot, from Penguilly's standpoint, was
the January 21-22 visit of the president of the French
National Assembly. Penguilly, in advance of the visit, said
the ceremonial nature of the trip would give the Friendship
Treaty some momentum. Indeed, the Algerian press quoted
Assembly President Jean-Louis Debre as saying during his
visit that "a time will come when the treaty will be signed."
Opposition Islah MP Lakhdar Benkhellaf told us January 22
that Algerian MPs privately agreed with Debre that signing
the Friendship Treaty was just a matter of time. Benkhellaf
said that despite the political rhetoric, Algerians
understood their country's relationship with France was
special and that good relations were unavoidable. Benkhellaf
quipped that Debre and Algerian officials understood that
time healed all wounds, but no one wanted to place bets on
how much time would pass before the wounds were healed enough
to permit the Friendship Treaty's signature.

FORD