PART II: AFRICA-FRANCE SUMMIT -- THE DARFUR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000848 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2016 TAGS: PREL PHUM PINR KSUM XA SU CD CT FR SUBJECT: PART II: AFRICA-FRANCE SUMMIT -- THE DARFUR SIDESHOW REF: A. PARIS 847 B. PARIS 578 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Josiah B. Rosenblatt. Reas ons 1.4b,d ¶1. (C) Summary: President Chirac, on the margins of the XXIV Africa-France Summit in Cannes, facilitated a February 15 Mini-Summit on the regional spillover of the Darfur crisis. Ghana President Kufuor, in his capacity as Chairman of the African Union, presided over the event, which took place in the presence of Mubarak, Sassou-N'guesso and Bongo. The leaders of Chad, Sudan and the Central African Republic agreed to a minimalist statement, the Cannes Declaration, that renewed a pledge against fomenting cross-border rebellion. The Cannes Declaration lacked political substance and papered over the cantankerous and accusatory atmosphere at the Mini-Summit. Deby was hostile and aggressive, according to sources. This is the second of three cables on the France-Africa Summit. End Summary. -------------- - Sudan, Chad and CAR Take Center Stage, Briefly -------------- - ¶2. (C) Bashir, Deby, and Bozize, at a February 15 Mini-Summit facilitated by Chirac, pledged in the "Cannes Declaration" 1) "to respect the sovereignty of each country and not to support armed movements in conformity with the Tripoli Agreement"; 2) to establish "active consultation bodies to bring together Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic"; 3) to "support the continued engagement of the United Nations and the African Union." However, the GoF privately discounted the declaration's importance, while asserting it kept alive efforts at dialogue and reaffirmed the objectives of the February 2006 Tripoli Summit to avoid regional conflagration. The meeting's dynamics were cantankerous -- accusatory and contentious, with Deby evincing vocal hostility toward Bashir. ¶3. (C) Sudanese President Bashir's decision to attend the Africa-France Summit made a Darfur initiative compulsory, if only to deflect criticism of the GoF for the invitation to Cannes. Bashir had originally sought a bilateral meeting with Chirac. (Note: Chirac held only two formal bilats.) The MFA previously claimed Khartoum had lobbied for a sidebar meeting, even suggesting the Government of Sudan was the source of news leaks about the plan when the GoF was still considering pulling the plug (Ref B). In the event, Deby �A;proved the fly in the ointment, resisting a group encounter as serving no purpose, according to both French Presidency and MFA sources. Deby's participation was grudging. According to sources, Deby was agressive, lashing out at Bashir, who in turn responded defensively. Central African Republic President Bozize, by contrast, was a model of equanimity and statesmanship, though he did draw attention to the presumed Sudanese role in at least two arms deliveries into CAR in 2006. Of interest, Deby brought former rebel leader Mohamat Nour along to the meeting. ¶4. (C) AU Chairman and Ghana President Kufuor officially presided at the Mini-Summit. Chirac, the primary facilitator, included Mubarak. Although not invited, Congo/Brazzaville President and former AU Chairman Sassou-N'guesso and Gabon President Bongo gained access to the venue before the parties arrived, presenting the organizers with a fait accompli and effectively gate-crashing the private gathering. MFA Sudan Desk Officer Frederic Bouvier confided that Bongo even upstaged Kufuor by pointedly taking a position to Chirac's right, seizing the place of honor and asserting his stature as the doyen of African leaders. ¶5. (C) Before the Cannes Summit, AF DAS-Equivalent Helene Le Gal had volunteered the MFA preference for as limited a gathering as possible, namely, principals plus the AU Chairman and Chirac. Egypt's presence was not necessarily a positive, since it would create a regional imbalance, highlighting the absence of Libya and Eritrea, key players on Darfur and Chad who were not in Cannes. Jacques Champagne de Labriolle, Deputy Counselor in the Presidency Africa Cell, disclosed in a February 21 conversation with Africa Watcher that the GoF in fact declined an overture from Eritrean President Isaiis Afwerki to attend the Darfur meeting because Afwerki refused also to take part in the Africa-France Summit. PARIS 00000848 002 OF 002 -------------- Sweeping Cote d'Ivoire under a Chadian Carpet? -------------- ¶6. (C) Taking a cynical tack, Stephen Smith, independent Africa analyst and co-author of a prominent 2005 work, "How France Lost Africa," argued on February 24 that the Cannes Declaration and the Darfur Mini-Summit served to occupy the media and divert attention from the lack of meaningful GoF engagement on the Cote d'Ivoire crisis. The post-conference claims of "intensive consultations" on Cote d'Ivoire made by Brigitte Girardin, the Minister-Delegate for Development, Cooperation and Francophonie, the GoF point person on the crisis, were pro forma assertions, MFA Desk Officer for Cote d'Ivoire Charlotte Montel conceded. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm STAPLETON