FRENCH ENGAGEMENT WITH IRAQ

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000454 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/25/2024 TAGS: PGOV PREL FR IZ SUBJECT: FRENCH ENGAGEMENT WITH IRAQ REF: STATE 21447 Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Kathleen H. Allegrone, reas ons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Amid a flurry of high level visits, relations between France and Iraq continue to improve. Although the GOF is eager to see French companies participate in the reconstruction of Iraq's infrastructure, French enterprises have been cautious due to their lingering security concerns. There is little appetite at the MFA for any new effort to promote regional cooperation. End summary. Status of Relations -------------- ¶2. (C) French relations with Iraq, which were frigid after 2003 under former President Chirac, have grown steadily warmer since President Sarkozy took office. FM Kouchner visited Iraq twice (in August 2007 and June 2008) before Sarkozy himself traveled to Baghdad on February 9, 2009. Within days of Sarkozy's visit, French External Commerce Minister Anne-Marie Idrac visited Baghdad as well. More recently, three Iraqi ministers (oil, defense and interior) visited Paris on March 24-25. Both Iraqi vice presidents will visit Paris separately in April and will be followed by Prime Minister Maliki in May. French PM Fillon is expected to lead a French commercial delegation to Baghdad in June. Finally, President Talabani will visit France in November. ¶3. (C) During the March 24 visit mentioned above, Oil Minister Shahristani and French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde presided over the first session of a new France-Iraqi joint economic commission. The two sides signed an accord on training Iraqi engineers dealing with the water sector in Baghdad, a framework agreement on investment insurance and an accord on establishing a joint commission for business leaders. In addition, the two sides reached agreements on funding feasibility studies and on allowing Iraqi companies to participate in French business fairs and expositions. Obstacles to Improving Relations -------------- ¶4. (C) Although France has forgiven 80 percent of Iraq's Paris Club debt, French authorities have not yet unfrozen some 20 million euros worth of frozen GOI assets. Over the past three years, the GOF has maintained that it needs new legislative authority in order to release the frozen funds, but there has been little or no effort to get the French parliament to pass such legislation. PM Maliki is expected to raise the frozen assets during his visit to Paris in May. The more important obstacle to improved relations is perhaps the reluctance of French companies to pursue business opportunities in Iraq given their lingering security concerns. Existing Initiatives -------------- ¶5. (C) France participates in EUJUST LEX (an EU rule of law training program) and has supported that program's expansion. France plans to open consulates in Basrah and Erbil (where its existing regional office will become the nucleus of the new consulate). In addition, the MFA plans to expand the French embassy in Baghdad to include defense and agricultural attaches, but those plans are moving slowly given current space limitations at the embassy. The French are working with the Iraqi MFA to identify a site for a new, larger embassy. Although the French MFA spokesperson on March 26 alluded to the possibility of France training Iraqi security officials, we have no details of any such agreement. However, MFA sources have recently reaffirmed their long-standing reluctance to contemplate a role for France in the NATO Training Mission -- Iraq (NTM-I). It is more likely that France would offer training to the Iraqi security forces on a bilateral basis with an eye toward concluding new arms sales. New Regional Cooperation Forum -------------- ¶6. (C) Franck Gellet, MFA DAS-equivalent for Iran and Iraq, offered a characteristically blunt response when asked how the GOF would view a new regional cooperation forum: "My advice is to give the Iraqis some breathing space. I know this is difficult for you -- you want to help them -- but you take too many initiatives, and it's difficult for you to understand where the Iraqis are psychologically because they still see you as an occupying power. Let them come to you PARIS 00000454 002 OF 002 when they need your help." Gellet suggested that the U.S. adopt an indirect approach to promoting Iraq's relations with its neighbors, so that any new ideas would not be directly attributable to Washington. "Be as subliminal as possible. We have to do the same thing with Lebanon, Syria and Algeria," said Gellet, who added that France's colonial history weighed on relations with all three countries. Gellet hinted that the French MFA would be reluctant to join in any new cooperative forum, saying that he preferred a bilateral approach to working with Iraq. PEKALA