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 SIPDIS SIPDIS 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. PARIS 00004071 002 OF 002 --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 SIPDIS 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