FRENCH POISED TO RAISE CONCERNS WITH VAN WALSUM

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001914 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA/MAG FOR ROBERT EWING E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/14/2017 TAGS: FR PREL PGOV AG MO WI SUBJECT: FRENCH POISED TO RAISE CONCERNS WITH VAN WALSUM REF: STATE 64947 PAGE 02 RUEHFRA1914 C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001914 CLASSIFIED BY: POLITICAL MINISTER-COUNSELOR JOSIAH ROSENBLATT, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) IN RESPONSE TO REFTEL DEMARCHE, THE MFA'S DAS-EQUIVALENT FOR THE MAGHREB, CHRISTIAN TESTO, TOLD US ON MAY 14 THAT FRANCE AND THE U.S. ARE ON "EXACTLY THE SAME WAVELENGTH" WITH REGARD TO UN WESTERN SAHARA ENVOY PETER VAN WALSUM. TESTO NOTED THAT THE FRENCH ARE PARTICULARLY CONCERNED BY SIGNALS THAT VAN WALSUM IS TRYING TO WALK BACK THE LANGUAGE OF UNSCR 1754 BY INSISTING THAT MOROCCO'S AUTONOMY PLAN AND THE POLISARIOS COUNTERPROPOSAL BE GIVEN EQUAL WEIGHT. FRANCE MAINTAINS THAT UNSCR 1754 WAS "DELIBERATELY ASYMMETRICAL" IN WELCOMING THE MOROCCAN PROPOSAL AS "SERIOUS AND CREDIBLE," IN CONTRAST TO THE POLISARIO PROPOSAL. "IN SHORT, VAN WALSUM REMAINS DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH -- WE HAVE THE IMPRESSION THAT HE'S IN NO HURRY, AND WE ARE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT HIS ATTEMPT TO PUT BOTH PROPOSALS ON THE SAME PLANE," TESTO SUMMARIZED, NOTING THAT THE MFA WOULD RAISE BOTH OF THESE CONCERNS WITH VAN WALSUM DURING HIS MAY 23 VISIT TO PARIS. PAGE 03 RUEHFRA1914 C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001914 ¶2. (C) TESTO FINISHED BY REQUESTING U.S. ASSISTANCE IN WORKING THE NORDIC STATES, WHICH SEEM TO SHARE VAN WALSUM'S PERSPECTIVE. PLEASE VISIT PARIS' CLASSIFIED WEBSITE AT: HTTP://WWW.STATE.SGOV.GOV/P/EUR/PARIS/INDEX.C FM STAPLETON