FRENCH READOUT ON IRAQI FM ZEBARI VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 004071

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/26/2017
TAGS: PREL PROG ETRD EINV FR IZ EU IR
SUBJECT: FRENCH READOUT ON IRAQI FM ZEBARI VISIT

Classified By: Political Minister-counselor Josiah Rosenblatt for reaso
ns 1.4. (b),(d).


1. (C) Summary: The French MFA,s Iraq desk officer on
September 20 described Iraqi FM Zebari,s brief visit to
Paris as a useful opportunity to take stock of some bilateral
issues FM Kouchner had not raised during his visit to Baghdad
last month but little else. Part of this was due to the fact
that Zebari,s trip had long been planned prior to
Kouchner,s hastily arranged visit and part to the fact that
the French are still mulling over what to do next vis-a-vis
Iraq. Talk about possible French police training actually
seems to have translated into expanded French assistance in
the context of EU training for the Iraqi judiciary that
includes police investigators. Kouchner, at Zebari,s
urging, agreed to attend the Istanbul &neighbors8
ministerial, although a scheduling conflict will likely force
France to send another ministerial-level representative.
Zebari complained about Iranian meddling in Iraq, and
Kouchner indicated the French embassy office in Irbil should
be opened before the end of this calendar year. Iraq,s
ambassador to France subsequently told us that Airbus and
Total are actively seeking to reactivate contracts and
commercial relationships in place with Iraq prior to the 1990
invasion of Kuwait. End summary


2. (C) French MFA Iraq desk officer Olivier Masseret on
September 20 gave us a readout of Iraqi FM Zebari,s
September 14 visit to Paris. After reminding us that the
visit had been scheduled for some time prior to French FM
Kouchner,s visit to Baghdad and thus was not entirely a
follow-up to Kouchner,s trip, it had nevertheless allowed
Kouchner a chance to update Zebari on French thinking about
Iraq. Masseret highlighted the following key points:

--Unlike Kouchner,s August visit, Zebari,s brief stopover
in Paris, on his way eventually to New York, allowed the two
sides to cover some purely bilateral issues. These included
legal claims by French firms for unpaid bills going back to
the oil-for-food program, Iraqi requests for debt relief, and
the status of the investigation into the 2003 disappearance
of French national Frederic Nerac. (Comment: The latter
case, for which the MFA summoned UK, Danish, and U.S. emboffs
recently to deliver a message --reported by e-mail and to be
reported septel -- involves a cameraman for the British ITV
whose fate has been unknown since a British military patrol
near Basra was attacked by insurgents. End comment)
Masseret noted that Zebari,s presence was timely and offered
the MFA a chance to underscore the Presidency,s strong
interest in determining what happened to Nerac. On the other
items, Masseret reported little progress but agreement to
continue discussions.

--Kouchner briefed Zebari on Kouchner,s efforts within the
EU to rally support for a new multilateral effort, led by the
UN, on behalf of Iraq. Masseret agreed with our observation
that Kouchner had an ally within the EU in the form of
Swedish Foreign Minister Bildt, who had also recently visited
Baghdad. They both spoke of the need to lend concerted EU
support to Iraq at the September 7-8 Gymnich meeting.
France, according to Masseret, will push for formal
consideration of Iraq at the next gathering of EU foreign
ministers set to occur before the summit in Lisbon.

--Kouchner and Zebari spoke about regional diplomatic efforts
and meetings scheduled during the UNGA on Iraq,s behalf.
Zebari also pressed Kouchner to attend the &neighbors8
ministerial scheduled to occur in Istanbul in early November.
Although Kouchner readily agreed to do so, Masseret
indicated that Kouchner will actually be on an official visit
to China. The GOF will, therefore, have to find another
minister-level representative to send.

--Zebari complained to Kouchner about Iranian meddling in
Iraq. Masseret stated that this was mentioned less in the
context of a plea for French help with Tehran but as a
growing and troubling reality with which the GOI had to
contend with obvious negative implications for internal
political stability.

--Kouchner apologized to Zebari over remarks he had made in
&Newsweek8 calling for Iraqi PM Maliki,s replacement.
Picking up on Kouchner,s enduring explanation that he had
repeated what he had heard from Iraqis during his visit to
Baghdad, Zebari criticized Kouchner for having given the
impression that he, as French foreign minister, agreed with
what his Iraqi interlocutors were saying. (Note: As
reported in Paris Points, this was virtually the only
bilateral subject Zebari raised in an interview he gave to
&Le Monde8 during his visit to Paris.) Masseret contended
that this unpleasant affair was likely finally finished with.


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--Koucnher told Zebari that work to establish a &French
embassy office8 in Irbil would be accelerated. Masseret
confirmed this was happening, and he predicted it would now
be in place well before the end of this year. The second
such post in Basrah, however, was on a much slower track
because of the security situation. He claimed that Kouchner
cautioned Zebari not to expect something to open in Basrah as
quickly as Irbil.


3. (C) Masseret had little new to say about the current
state of French thinking on Iraq. The minister was looking
forward to his visits to Washington and New York for further
consultations with senior U.S. and UN officials. Regarding
the latter, Kouchner would make the rounds at the
Secretariat, including with UNSYG Ban Ki Moon, to discuss UN

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hesitation to return in force given the security situation.
The GOF considers the recent UNSCR on a reinforced UN
presence crucial and, inasmuch as the French regard the UN as
the key to further international efforts on Iraq, wants to
help as much as possible.


4. (C) With respect to further French thinking on how to
help Iraq, Masseret stated that there has not been much
progress beyond what the Embassy has previously reported. We
asked again about the possible training of Iraqi police
personnel, and Masseret responded that this continues to be
outside the realm of French thinking for reasons previously
advanced, i.e., concern that training Iraqi policemen for the
moment equals training militiamen. However, France is
playing an active part in the EU-sponsored &JUSTLEX8
program aimed at providing investigative and judicial
training for personnel in the Iraqi justice system, including
judges, prosecutors, and police investigators.


5. (C) Iraqi Ambassador to France Muwaffaq Abbud provided
his perspective on the visit over lunch September 24 with
Ambassador Stapleton. Because of the limited amount of time
Zebari had in Paris, probably a function of the less
propitious conditions in terms of bilateral relations when
the visit was arranged, Kouchner was Zebari,s senior most
GOF contact. Abbud added little to what Masseret told us,
although he indicated that Kouchner had invited a
representative from the French Ministry of Justice to attend
the meeting with Zebari for the discussion on judicial
assistance. Despite his skepticism about any meaningful role
the EU or UN could play in Iraq for the foreseeable future,
Abbud saw the Zebari visit as confirmation of the positive
trajectory for French/Iraqi relations since Kouchner,s
visit. Abbud expressed relief that Sarkozy had chosen
Kouchner to be his foreign minister and not Hubert Vedrine,
whose views on Iraq (and lack of past personal involvement)
Abbud clearly felt would not have made him as eager or
amenable to a rapprochement as Kouchner. Looking ahead,
Abbud indicated that he looks forward to Kouchner,s return
and even a Sarkozy visit to Beghdad. (Comment: The latter
strikes us as a very remote possibility at this stage. End
comment)


6. (C) Abbud reported some progress in terms of
reestablishing commercial ties between France and Iraq.
Airbus, according to Abbud, is pursuing the revival of a
contract to sell aircraft to Iraq that had not been finalized
when sanctions were imposed in 1990. Representatives from
the French oil company Total, meanwhile, met with Zebari to
discuss their company,s interest in returning to fields it
had worked in the south before sanctions were imposed. Abbud
suggested that Total is hoping for some special treatment,
given its past involvement, but the GOI had so far been
noncommittal and said that Total,s bid would be considered
alongside others.

Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm


Stapleton