HORN OF AFRICA/PIRACY: FRENCH OFFICIAL DISCUSSES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001340

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2019
TAGS: EWWT KCRM PHSA PHUM PREL SO XA XW FR
SUBJECT: HORN OF AFRICA/PIRACY: FRENCH OFFICIAL DISCUSSES
OCTOBER 6-8 BRUSSELS MEETING AND RELATED ISSUES

REF: HOPKINS-KANEDA E-MAIL (25 SEP 09)

Classified By: Andrew Young, Political Counselor, 1.4 (b/d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The French will attend the October 6-8
Maritime Security Sector Reform (MSSR) meeting in Brussels
but may also want a USG team to visit Paris to discuss Horn
of Africa piracy on a broad inter-agency basis. France
favors taking action to block ports used by pirates and
against mother ships. France has reservations about
supporting Somaliland's and Puntland's coast guard forces
because of sovereignty issues and concerns that such forces
might be helping pirates. France is comfortable with the
SHADE mechanism to coordinate operations but is concerned
that Russia and China may not be and may seek to establish a
rival mechanism. France understands Kenya's difficulties in
prosecuting and imprisoning pirates and hopes the
international community can continue to support Kenya
generously. French concerns about references to
"self-protection" and "self-protection measures" precluded
France from signing the "Best Practices" text in New York;
the GOF will try to find acceptable language that will enable
it to sign a revised version of the text. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) We met with Chantal Poiret, MFA Anti-Piracy
Coordinator, on September 25 in order to discuss points
raised in ref e-mail. Poiret said that France would attend
the October 6-8 MSSR meeting in Brussels. However, she said
that she was leaning towards asking that a USG team also
visit Paris so that the GOF could assemble an inter-agency
group to discuss a range of piracy issues with the USG team.
She asked that we provide a paper on MSSR prepared by PM/PPA,
which would help her decide how to approach the Brussels MSSR
meeting and also any subsequent meeting with USG officials
visiting Paris. (NOTE: PM/PPA provided this paper to Poiret
directly via e-mail on September 29, with Poiret expressing
her appreciation. END NOTE.)


3. (C) Poiret said that France favored action to blockade
ports used by pirates and to take more direct action against
mother ships. She said that anti-piracy patrol vessels,
including those of the U.S. and France, were already starting
to impede access to certain ports. During our meeting, she
phoned an MOD contact who confirmed this to her, mentioning
the patrols had been or were taking place within the
framework of "Focus 07." The MOD contact informed her that
four U.S. vessels were at that moment patrolling near the
Somali coast. Poiret said she believed that such patrols
would continue.


4. (C) Poiret shared U.S. and UK concerns about helping the
coast guard forces of Somaliland and Puntland. Without
elaborating, she said that such support could raise
sovereignty issues. She then mentioned that it was not
certain that support given to the two coast guards would not
end up in the hands of pirates, noting that there were
indications that several branches of Somalia's security and
military apparatus were believed to be aiding the pirates or
indirectly supporting them.


5. (C) Poiret said that France was comfortable with SHADE
as a mechanism to coordinate anti-piracy operations. It was
an effective arrangement. However, she said she understood
that Russia, China, and perhaps others not in the NATO/EU
camp were unhappy with SHADE, especially if it gave the
impression that participants were under U.S. or "Western"
control. She said there were indications that Russia and
China were thinking of establishing a parallel mechanism.
Poiret thought that this would be unfortunate and that in no
case should Russia and China be given the idea that their
participation was not welcome. Without being more specific,
Poiret said that SHADE could perhaps be restructured so as to
make Russia and China more comfortable working with it and
its current participants.


6. (C) Poiret expressed concern about Kenya and its
recently stated problems in coping with the prosecution and
incarceration of pirates and suspected pirates. Poiret said
that Kenya was doing an admirable job and that Western

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countries should extend as much assistance as possible.
Poiret said that France had been working with the Seychelles
to accept pirates and prosecute them but she acknowledged
that the process was not reaching closure because the
Seychelles were demanding considerable support. She
understood the reasons for the demands, but also commented
that the Seychelles, being an island state dependent on
maritime trade and shipping, was benefiting greatly from
anti-piracy operations. Poiret said that efforts to broaden
French laws to give increased French jurisdiction over piracy
cases were continuing; under current law, France had
jurisdiction when a piracy case involved a French interest,
e.g., took place in French waters, involved a French ship,
involved a French company, or involved French crew members.
Legislators were working to craft a law that would allow
French courts to assert jurisdictions even if one of those
French interests was not directly involved.


7. (C) On the "Best Practices" text signed by others
recently in New York, Poiret said that the GOF did not sign
the text because of its several references to
"self-protection" and "self-protection measures." She said
that French experts interpreted these phrases to mean a
possible obligation on the part of ship owners to maintain
armed deterrent forces on their ships, something that French
ship owners, she said, were not planning to do. Poiret said
the GOF was looking for language that could replace
"self-protection" and "self-protection measures" but would
leave the text otherwise intact. She noted that such
language might consist of a phrase such as "defensive
measures in accordance with Article XYZ" of an already
existing International Maritime Organization text, which she
thought would not be subject to criticism and which could
render the text easier to sign by others as well.




RIVKIN