CLUSTER MUNITIONS: FRANCE SUGGESTS NEED FOR A

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001312 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2017 TAGS: MARR PARM PREL PGOV NATO FR SUBJECT: CLUSTER MUNITIONS: FRANCE SUGGESTS NEED FOR A COORDINATED ALTERNATIVE TO SLOW OSLO PROCESS REF: A) STATE 36940 B) PARIS 256 Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Bruce Turner for reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: French officials told PM Acting DAS Ruggiero that the GoF also opposes an international ban on cluster munitions and fears that Norway's push to establish a legally binding instrument could provoke the same fruitless debates between states that followed the Ottowa Convention on landmines. The MFA believes that humanitarian-based opposition to cluster munitions from NGOs and European publics may nonetheless demand some response from European nations. The French suggested it is no longer enough simply to oppose the Oslo process; like-minded nations need to devise an alternative proposal in the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) that carefully defines cluster munitions and distinguishes between legitimate weapons with military utility and dangerous or unreliable munitions. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) PM Acting DAS met March 29 with French MFA and MoD interlocutors to discuss U.S. concerns about the consequences of an international treaty restricting use of cluster munitions, as proposed by Norway. The French delegation was led by Francois Richier, MFA PDAS for Strategic Affairs, Disarmament and Nonproliferation, and included Arnaud Roux, Special Advisor in Strategic Affairs Directorate, Thierry Garnier, Chief Engineer in the MoD's Bureau of Armaments, and Alice Rufo, MFA desk officer for the Ottawa Convention and CCW. Ruggiero was accompanied by David Hodson, Senior Assistant for the Office of Transnational Threats at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Katherine Baker, action officer in the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, and LTCOL. Jeff Kulmayer and Poloff (notetaker) from the Embassy. ¶3. (C) Richier welcomed DAS Ruggiero's initiative to share U.S. concerns with key European players and asked for a brief read-out of Ruggiero's previous meetings in Berlin, London and Oslo. Richier said France concurs with the U.S. assessment that a treaty on cluster munitions would both adversely affect essential military operations and embroil states in the same bitter arguments that emerged from the "nightmarish" Ottowa Convention on anti-personnel land mines. Although France attended the Oslo conference on cluster munitions February 22-23, and subscribed to the final declaration, it was "only after some fights," Richier revealed. He added that the MFA had hoped to limit discussion to the most dangerous and unreliable cluster munitions, where the GoF could consent to some limited restrictions. ¶4. (C) Observing that NGOs have exerted an almost "unbearable" pressure on European capitals, Richier asserted that making some humanitarian-motivated response was inevitable. All three of the top presidential candidates in France had vowed to address the issue of cluster munitions, he noted. (Note: Defense issues have not played a significant role in the ongoing presidential campaigns. End Note.) If like-minded countries --notably France, the U.S. and the U.K. -- wished to avoid tight restrictions and endless diplomatic wrangling, they needed to present a substantive alternative within the context of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW),Richier observed. "Our only chance to get back to the CCW is to demonstrate that discussions within that forum can bear fruit. It may not be totally satisfactory to the NGOs, but it could reduce pressure" and slow or obviate the Oslo process, Richier suggested. The French stated that there was not yet an EU consensus on this idea, but that France was discussing it with EU member countries. Additionally, the French thought that NATO might consider expressing its military concerns, even though 19 NATO members had signed on to the Oslo process. ¶5. (C) To create an alternative instrument, Richier proposed that France, the U.S., the U.K. and possibly Germany exchange concept papers and schedule working-level meetings for the month of May to develop a draft proposal. Any shared concept paper should seek to define cluster munitions and establish a typology of different types of munitions -- those that are unreliable and could be restricted versus those that are reliable and serve a justified military purpose -- in order to pre-empt opponents' claims that they "are banning something that is categorically horrible." Ruggiero said he would discuss the idea in Washington. ¶6. (U) Acting DAS Ruggiero cleared this message. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm STAPLETON