Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07PARIS4732
2007-12-17 17:06:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Paris
Cable title:  

FRANCE/AFRICA: PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR DISCUSSES KEY

Tags:  PREL PHUM MARR SU CD IV RW CT UV FR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0004
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHFR #4732/01 3511706
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 171706Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1505
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1444
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 004732 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/18/2017
TAGS: PREL PHUM MARR SU CD IV RW CT UV FR
SUBJECT: FRANCE/AFRICA: PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR DISCUSSES KEY
ISSUES

Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt,
.4 (b/d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 004732

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/18/2017
TAGS: PREL PHUM MARR SU CD IV RW CT UV FR
SUBJECT: FRANCE/AFRICA: PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR DISCUSSES KEY
ISSUES

Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt,
.4 (b/d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Presidential AF Advisor Romain Serman on
December 17 reported on key France-Africa issues, some
resulting from meetings at the December 8-9 Lisbon EU-Africa
Summit:

-- Rwanda: Presidents Sarkozy and Kagame agreed to work to
normalize relations and to maintain personal supervision of
this project;

-- Sudan: Sarkozy pressed President Bashir to expedite
UNAMID's deployment and distanced France from Darfur rebel
leader Abdulwahid el-Nur, who may have to leave France after
December 28, when his current residency visa expires;

-- Cote d'Ivoire: Sarkozy told President Gbagbo that France
wanted a reliable voters list, no further backsliding on the
date for elections, and free, fair, and transparent elections;

-- Djibouti: Sarkozy and President Guelleh agreed to
improve relations irrespective of the Borrel Case, with
Sarkozy explaining that the GOF could do little to limit the
independence of the judges investigating Borrel's death;

-- Chad/C.A.R.: The lack of helicopters continues to be the
main impediment to deploying EUFOR in support of MINURCAT,
with France in discussion with Russia, Romania, and Bulgaria
on furnishing the aircraft and with EU partners, particularly
the UK, on financing them;

-- Sarkozy plans to visit Chad, Angola, and South Africa in
February 2008, with a speech in South Africa setting forth
France's policy goals towards Africa.

END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Romain Serman, one of the AF Advisors at the French
presidency, on December 17 provided an overview of AF-related
issues, beginning with the December 8-9 EU-Africa Summit in
Lisbon, which Serman attended. He said that Sarkozy's
December 8 speech was generally well received, especially by
Europeans who welcomed Sarkozy's frank messages to both
Europeans and Africans on the need to develop relations on a

pragmatic basis free of the trappings of the past. (NOTE:
Text of the speech in French is available at www.elysee.fr or
from kanedarj@state.gov. END NOTE.) Sarkozy held nine
bilateral meetings with African leaders.

Rwanda
--------------

3. (C) Serman said that the Sarkozy-Kagame meeting was a
good one, with both sides agreeing to work to normalize
relations, which were severed by Rwanda in November 2006
following the issuance of then-Judge Bruguiere's report that
in effect accused several leading Rwandans, including Kagame,
of involvement in events leading to the 1994 genocide. The
two president met one-on-one for about 10 minutes. They
agreed that their respective Foreign Ministers would work
together to establish a road-map on how to move relations
forward but that the two presidents would oversee this work
closely. Serman said that there was no timetable in place as
to when relations might eventually be normalized.


4. (C) Serman commented that it was important that Sarkozy
and Kagame developed a bit of personal rapport in Lisbon.
This was facilitated by a part of Sarkozy's speech in which
he that "we have not always been able to foresee or stop
dramas that lack a name. I am thinking of Rwanda and its
genocide, which makes us, France included, reflect on our
weaknesses and our errors." Serman said that this was the
farthest any French leader had gone in expressing regret
about France's connection to the genocide, a position that
Serman (PROTECT) said some in the French military opposed
when the speech was being vetted.

Sudan/Darfur
--------------

5. (C) Bashir asked to meet with Sarkozy, and the French
"couldn't say 'no'," Serman reported. Sarkozy told Bashir
that he did not "have anything against you personally," with
both sides noting the generally positive historical relations
between France and Sudan. That said, Sarkozy told Bashir
bluntly that the Darfur problem had to be resolved and that
the international community could not accept continuation of

the massacres. He also said that Bashir should not veto
participation by non-Africans, such as the Nordics or
Thailand, who wanted to help. According to Serman, Bashir
hemmed and hawed, saying that he would "reconsider" some of
his policies but also stating that UNAMID should be composed
of African troops or "Asians who are Muslim." Sarkozy
pointed out that Europeans never complained about the
presence of Africans in, for example, Kosovo and Haiti, even
those were not "African" problems. Sudan should be open to
anyone willing to help. Sarkozy said that Sudan should also
stop trying to exploit the "Arche de Zoe" case for its own
ends (the case involving the French NGO that attempted to
take some 100 children from Chad to France, with some of the
children allegedly of Sudanese origin).


6. (C) Darfur rebel leader Abdulwahid el-Nur, currently
residing in France, was also a subject of discussion. Bashir
claimed that France was implicitly favoring the rebels by
allowing Abdulwahid to stay in France. Sarkozy said that
this was not the case and that Abdulwahid's continued failure
to participate in peace talks could lead to his being
expelled from France after December 28, when his current visa
expires. Serman said that Sarkozy was partially successful
in disabusing Bashir of the notion that France supported
Abdulwahid.


7. (C) Serman said that France was indeed prepared to let
Abdulwahid's visa expire, thus forcing him to seek residency
elsewhere. He said that the GOF was tired of his refusal to
participate. The French were asking Senegal, which had
expressed interest in hosting him, to accept him should he
have to leave France. As he holds an Eritrean passport,
Eritrea might be another eventual destination. France could
not cancel his visa prior to December 28 without a UNSC
resolution sanctioning him or unless he became a "threat to
public order."


8. (C) Serman said that, in a transparent move to stave off
the expiration of his visa, Abdulwahid had had his wife and
two children request French visas in Nairobi (where they
reside) to allow them to visit France over the year-end
holiday season (i.e., just when his visa is to expire on
December 28). "He thinks we could not order him to leave
when his wife and children will have just arrived," Serman
said. However, Serman said that the French had denied the
application for visas for Abdulwahid's wife and children.
All of this could change, he said, if Abdulwahid joined the
peace talks, but Serman said that that did not seem likely.

Cote d'Ivoire
--------------

9. (C) In Lisbon, Sarkozy met with Burkina Faso President
Compaore, Cote d'Ivoire President Gbagbo, and with the two of
them together. He stressed France's support of the
Ouagadougou Peace Accords. Serman said that one reason
Sarkozy met with Gbagbo was to disallow Gbagbo from
insinuating that Sarkozy did not like Gbagbo or was afraid of
him, an idea Gbagbo has used in his attempts to manipulate
France's image in Cote d'Ivoire. Sarkozy wanted to dispel
the notion that he or the GOF was reluctant to deal with
Gbagbo. That, Serman said, is no longer an issue after their
meeting.


10. (C) Sarkozy made three points with Gbagbo -- (1) the
Cote d'Ivoire had to develop a credible list of eligible
voters; (2) there should be no further tinkering with the
elections calendar or yet another postponement; and (3) the
elections themselves had to be free and fair. Serman said
that Gbagbo tried to point out that African elections were
often "irregular," stating (in Compaore's presence) that even
those in Burkina Faso had not been completely problem-free.
Compaore did not appreciate this remark, the substance of
which he denied, and Sarkozy observed Compaore and Gbagbo
disputing the merits of Burkina Faso's elections and its
electoral system.

Djibouti
--------------

11. (C) Sarkozy met with Djibouti President Guelleh in
Paris, during the latter's visit following the Lisbon Summit.
Serman said that the meeting was friendly and cordial and
the two presidents seemed to have developed good personal
rapport. Both sides agreed to promote improved relations.
Concerning the Borrel Affair (the case of the French
magistrate who died in Djibouti in 1995 and whose death led
to complex series of court cases involving accusations of

Djiboutian government complicity),Serman said that Sarkozy
explained to Guelleh the independent nature of the French
judiciary. Most importantly, Sarkozy seemed to have
convinced Guelleh that the French government was not using
these court cases to try to "get" Guelleh or his associates.
To the contrary, the French government was interested in
promoting good relations and avoiding having the Borrel case
become the sole determinant of the relationship. Guelleh
seemed to appreciate Sarkozy's explanations.


12. (C) Guelleh reportedly expressed concern about the
French military presence in Djibouti, wondering if France
might withdraw its forces (which he did not want to see
happen) because of the U.S. military presence there. Sarkozy
said that such was not the case and the French and U.S.
presences complemented each other. He said that France had
not intention of altering its basing arrangement in Djibouti.
Sarkozy said that France would increase its development
programs in Djibouti, including work on such things as
improving Djibouti's port.

Chad/C.A.R.
--------------

13. (C) Serman said, glumly, that the EU operation for Chad
and C.A.R. remained a problem, with the principal obstacle
being the lack of helicopters. France had been talking to
Russia, Romania, and Bulgaria, which seemed interested in
furnishing the helicopters but would need financing. Serman
said that France would continue lobbying European partners,
particularly the UK, in an effort to secure an EU-wide
commitment to fund the helicopters. He said that EUFOR would
need at least a dozen, and no more than 20 helicopters, each
costing about USD 2 million per year to operate. This was a
relatively small sum. He said that he was optimistic that a
solution would be found, but he refrained from saying whether
one was imminent. Serman noted that the EU would lose
considerable face if it failed to fund the mission after
having taken the political decision to form and deploy it.


14. (C) Serman said that it appeared that a small number of
transport aircraft would be furnished by Spain and/or
Portugal. Asked whether France would fund the helicopters if
all else failed, Serman said that France was not inclined to
do so -- "This is supposed to be an EU mission and we are
already committed to paying for much of it and have already
committed the bulk of the troops. It is a matter of
principle -- the other EU partners should contribute as
well." He added that France's financing the helicopters
would also increase the perception that the operation was
"French," an impression the French wanted to avoid giving.

Looking Ahead
--------------

15. (C) Serman said that Sarkozy's trip to Africa in
February 2008 was still on track, with visits to Chad,
Angola, and South Africa on the agenda. In Chad, Sarkozy
would hope to be able to observe the EUFOR/MINURCAT
deployment at first hand. In Angola, he expects to further
the effort on the part of both France and Angola to improve
relations, which have been in deep-freeze because of the
Falcone Affair (an complicated arms dealing scheme dating
back to the Mitterrand and Chirac eras). In South Africa,
Sarkozy plans to make a speech before the South African
Parliament that will build on his July 26 speech in Dakar and
the December 8 speech in Lisbon and set forth his vision for
France's evolving policy vis-a-vis Africa.

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


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