INFORMAL FRENCH RESPONSE TO S/I SATTERFIELD'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PARIS 000118

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2013
TAGS: PREL EAID KDEM FR IZ
SUBJECT: INFORMAL FRENCH RESPONSE TO S/I SATTERFIELD'S
PAPER ON INCREASING FRENCH INVOLVEMENT IN IRAQ

REF: PARIS 83

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


1. (U) See action request in the second sub-tick of para 3.


2. (C) French MFA Iraq desk officer Olivier Masseret on
January 8 gave us an "informal" response to the paper S/I
David Satterfield passed to the Elysee and the MFA on
December 28. Masseret explained that we would receive an
"official" response in written form following DAS-equivalent
Franck Gellet's return to Paris after accompanying French
President Sarkozy to the Gulf (Sarkozy returned to Paris
January 15). Masseret claimed that the formal French
response will have been fully coordinated throughout the
French interagency and blessed by the Council of Ministers.


3. (C) Following the organization of the Satterfield paper
(text at para 7),Masseret outlined the French views as
follows:

--Economic assistance: This was the part of the paper
Masseret indicated where there was the least U.S./French
convergence.

- o With respect to France depositing a total of USD 10
million with the World Bank and/or UN Development Group Iraq
Trust Funds, Masseret said that France continues to place an
emphasis on the need for national reconciliation and other
signs of positive change in Iraq before it will allocate
significant funds for development. He stated that the GOF
worries, given the current security situation and political
impasse among Iraqi leaders, that the money would be wasted.
The French interagency had, therefore, stopped short of
arguing over whether budget funds existed to make even a
token contribution as requested.

- o Regarding the proposal that France host the next Iraqi
Compact (ICI) meeting in April, Masseret was more nuanced but
still generally negative. He referred to delays in getting
the first Compact meeting organized and was uncertain that
such a meeting would sufficiently complement efforts at
addressing core political issues, like national
reconciliation. Masseret subsequently explained to
PolMinCouns during the visit of Staffdel Diamond that the GOF
had made no definitive decision on hosting the Compact
meeting. (Comment/Action request: Washington may wish to
send instructions with points supporting our argument as to
why Paris should host this meeting and with background as to
ongoing contacts that may be occurring on this at high levels
between Washington and Paris. Any points should stress the
link between a meeting on the compact and how it would
facilitate broader national reconciliation. Any such
reference should not assume the French view their proposal to
host intra-Iraqi talks as the only or best one on the table
but merely take into account the high priority France accords
this goal. End comment/action request)

- o Masseret said the GOF was unaware of the January 17-18
IRFFI meeting in Naples on improving donor coordination. He
said it was too late to muster a delegation for this event,
since most of the people the GOF would send were tied up
preparing for Sarkozy's Gulf trip.

- o As regards encouraging Russia to sign a bilateral debt
reduction agreement with Iraq per its Paris Club commitment,
Masseret said that previous appeals had not been effective.
This underscored what he called France's loss of leverage
over Moscow in a number of areas in recent months. The
nature of the bilateral debt -- involving oil and barter-type
trade in other goods -- was too complicated to lend itself to
the sort of deal we advocated. Still, France would continue
to use every occasion within the Paris Club to urge the
Russians to reduce their bilateral debt with Iraq. (Note:
The Russian delegation to the January Paris Club said the GOR
expects to sign its bilateral agreement during February
11)12 meetings with Iraqi officials in Moscow. End note)

--Health sector: Masseret stated that France agrees with the
USG suggestions and would likely have more to make after Dr.
Frederic Tissot, a physician and longtime friend of FM
Kouchner who worked alongside each other in places like
Kurdistan, takes over as head of the new branch office of the
French embassy in Irbil (see para for more information).
Keeping the focus on the Kurdish north makes the most sense
for France in terms of its initial activities due to the more
benign security environment.

--Rule of law: Masseret expressed general approval of the
suggestions. He agreed in particular that France might have

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something useful to offer in terms of tackling juvenile
crime. With respect to the suggestion of sponsoring a
training program for Iraqi security forces by the French
Gendarmerie, Masseret recalled the Chirac-era idea of
establishing a training academy in Qatar with French
participation. As the security situation in Iraq
deteriorated, the concern rose that the forces trained were
defecting to militia groups. Echoing previously expressed
views, Masseret repeated France's belief that such training
efforts could only be undertaken when the question of militia
infiltration was resolved. He hoped the positive evolution
of the security situation would help in that regard. As a
technical point, Masseret asked whether the paper's reference
to "legisprudence" was actually to "jurisprudence."

--Diplomatic engagement: As with much of the section on rule
of law, Masseret argued that France is playing a stepped-up
role. With specific respect to providing additional funds
for UNAMI to procure vehicles and helicopters to carry out
its mission, Masseret said the budget implications were a
huge problem for France. The question of helping with
helicopters was especially difficult, as has been seen in
terms of devoting additional assets to Afghanistan.


4. (C) Picking up on Kouchner's offer at the Istanbul
conference to host an intra-Iraqi dialogue aimed at promoting
national reconciliation, Masseret indicated this remains one
of France's high priorities. He acknowledged the signal
failure of a similar French effort on Lebanon and stressed
that France has merely offered to host such an event if the
Iraqis wish to see it occur. (Comment: The January 14
French MFA press briefing noted, in the context of a response
to a question on recent Iraqi legislation on
de-Ba'thification, that France "supports everything that
moves in the direction of national reconciliation and an
easing of tensions in Iraq. President (Sarkozy) repeated in
his January 13 al-Hayat interview that France was ready to
welcome an intra-Iraqi conference" aimed at promoting
harmony. The statement emphasized that it was up to the
different parties to decide whether to follow up. End
comment)


5. (C) Masseret spoke briefly about plans to open the
French embassy's branch office (not a consulate) in Irbil.
The French have found a villa to rent and are about to start
the two- to four-month process of converting it to the
intended use, i.e., suggesting a late spring opening. FM
Kouchner has named Dr. Frederic Tissot, a physician and
longtime collaborator on humanitarian issues including in
Iraq's Kurdish area, to head up the office. (Note: Tissot
was France's coordinator for humanitarian assistance in
Afghanistan 2002-2004. End note) Masseret explained that
one of the reasons for the delay in preparing the office was
the need to adapt it to Tissot's needs, since Tissot has been
a paraplegic since a tragic accident in Haiti in 2006. He
has, according to Masseret, already visited the region and
met local leaders as a prelude to his eventual installation.
As for other staffing in Irbil, Masseret stated that the MFA
has received interagency agreement to transfer the commercial
attache covering Iraq from Amman, where that operation was
relocated after the 2003 invasion, to Irbil.


6. (SBU) Finally, Masserer introduced us to Xavier Roze,
France's former ambassador to Laos and recently named to
replace Jean-Pierre Guinhut as France's inter-ministerial
coordinator for assistance to Iraq.


7. (SBU) The following is the text of the paper S/I
Satterfield handed over on December 28, 2007:

Increasing French Involvement in Iraq

Economic Assistance

--Deposit a total of $10 million with the World Bank and/or
UN Development Group Iraq Trust Funds (ITF's). Such a
donation would make France a member of the International
Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) and would gain
France a full seat at the table with other leading donors.
To date, France has channeled its assistance through the EU,
which is by far the largest contributor to the IRFFI.

--Host the Next ICI Annual Meeting. Deputy Secretary Kimmit
raised the possibility of hosting such an event in April.
The meeting could be used to showcase Iraqi progress on
reform while encouraging international partners to make debt
relief announcements.

--Attend the January 17-18 IRFFI meeting in Naples, Italy to
discuss and make plans for improving donor coordination. We
look to France to take up a leading role helping to

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coordinate international donor assistance to Iraq. Along
with other donors, we would welcome French involvement.

--Encourage Russia to reach a bilateral debt reduction
agreement with the GOI. As current chair of the Paris Club
and one of the first countries to reduce Iraq's Saddam-era
debt, France may be able to sway Russia to conclude a deal
reducing Iraqi debt by approximately $2 billion.

Health Sector

--Provide medical support, possibly through a network of
dispensaries, to refugee camps and internally displaced
persons in northern Iraq. While some camps have clinics,
these are usually understaffed and poorly stocked with
medical supplies. The need for medical care in this area is
even greater since the staff of the Zaytun Hospital was
reduced by half. Once security improves further, similar
missions could be opened in other areas.

--Encourage Iraqi central government engagement with the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Health (MoH).
Assist the KRG with regional health projects. The KRG has
identified a number of beneficial regional health projects to
undertake, but is having difficulty obtaining the necessary
funds and other resources.

Rule of Law

--Train law and investigative judges and upgrade court
infrastructure. The Iraqi legal system is Napoleonic, making
French expertise invaluable for capacity-building assistance.
Such training could increase the speed at which security
detainees and officials accused of corruption are processed,
and greatly improve legal proceedings and the workings of
government.

--Develop youth diversion programming and provide training to
Juvenile Police and Juvenile Court staff. The Iraqi juvenile
justice system lacks the capacity to handle its burgeoning
juvenile detainee population. Without system reform and
capacity enhancement, juvenile detainees might have to be
mixed with adult offenders.

--Sponsor a training program for the Iraqi security forces by
the Gendarmerie. The GOI has requested that any future
training occur inside Iraq. Training in northern Iraq could
be a viable option.

--Provide civil code drafting experts and other professionals
to assist in the lawmaking process and help establish a
legislative tracking system. Because the Shura Council is
modeled after the Council of State in France and French
Universities have been a leader in the field of
legisprudence, the French would be well-positioned to provide
assistance in this area.

Diplomatic Engagement

--Use France's upcoming term in the EU Presidency to
encourage greater EU assistance to Iraq.

--Encourage France to support UNAMI,s efforts to carry out
its expanded mandate. This could include funds for UN
security, vehicles and/or helicopters to assist with the
movement of UNAMI personnel and other resources to troubled
areas, assist with the upgrading of local emergency hospitals.

--Participate in upcoming meetings of the Expanded
Neighbors, Working Groups and encourage regional states to
make better use of the Neighbors mechanism. The dates for
the next working group meetings have not been set, but the
hosts understand that these meetings need to take very soon.
France could attend these meeting as an observer and
encourage regional states to make better use of the process.


--Support GOI efforts to peacefully reintegrate returning
Iraqis. The displacement of two million Iraqis as refugees
abroad and another two million internally has humanitarian,
political, security, and development implications, affecting
regional and internal stability and the eventual
reconstruction of Iraq. Efficient and peaceful integration
of returning Iraqis will require the GOI to finalize a
national policy as well as create a bottom-up strategy and
put the infrastructure in place to carry out both.

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



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PEKALA