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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 004080 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2016 
TAGS: PREL PHUM PINR IV CT TO CD FR
SUBJECT: NUDGING DEBY ON DIALOGUE. MFA REMARKS ON CHAD, 
C.A.R., TOGO, AND COTE D'IVOIRE 
 
REF: A. NDJAMENA 828 B. D'ELIA-AF/W E-MAILS 
 
PARIS 00004080  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Josiah B. Rosenblatt.  Reas 
ons 1.4b,d 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  French Minister of Cooperation Girardin 
will deliver a clear message to President Deby in Chad this 
week on the necessity for national dialogue, according to MFA 
AF DAS-Equivalent Foucher.  The unusual presence of French 
Presidential Africa Adviser Bonnecorse on Girardin's trip 
constitutes a direct message from President Chirac that Deby 
must launch a process of national dialogue built around 2007 
legislative elections, drawing on assistance from the 
European Union.  Foucher regretted diplomatic missteps by EU 
Commissioner for Development Michel that had incited Deby's 
public repudiation of "foreign" interference.  Foucher argued 
that French support for Deby was far from unequivocal and 
that there had been an animated debate within the GOF during 
the April rebel offensive on the limits of French support. 
Foucher described mounting MFA worries about backsliding in 
the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) and the dramatic surge 
in Chinese involvement, with PRC bilateral assistance now 
surpassing aid from Paris.  Turning to Togo, Foucher branded 
Paris-based opposition leader an obstacle to national 
dialogue.  Regarding French policy-making on Cote d'Ivoire, 
Foucher underscored the marginalization of Nathalie de La 
Palme, an MFA adviser who had been the principal architect of 
the 2003 Linas-Marcoussis Accord.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Chad, Ivory Coast and the Central African Republic 
currently comprise the main preoccupations for MFA AF 
DAS-Equivalent Bruno Foucher, he stated in a June 12 meeting 
with Africa Watcher.  Foucher, whose area of responsibility 
covers West and Central Africa, including Chad but not DRC or 
Congo/Brazzaville, remarked that the MFA Africa bureau has 
supported 54 ministerial-level visits to African countries 
since January, most in his bailliwick.  Both Foucher and 
Presidential Africa Adviser Michel de Bonnecorse will 
accompany the Minister for Cooperation for June 15 meetings 
in Chad aimed at driving national dialogue. 
 
Chad: Deby Must Engage; EU Must lead 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (C) Minister for Cooperation Brigitte Girardin will meet 
with Chadian President Deby circa June 15 to drive home to 
President Deby the need for outreach and dialogue with the 
non-violent national dialogue.  The presence of Presidential 
Africa Advisor Bonnecorse is highly unusual and a clear 
signal to Deby that Girardin is carrying a direct message 
from Chirac on the necessity of engagement, Foucher added. 
All the same, France does not wish to be out front in pushing 
reform and relies on the EU to take the lead, Foucher said, 
noting French support for the recent EU Troika initiative. 
The EU had the finances and the know-how to underwrite a 
series of governance seminars on a regular basis, setting the 
2007 legislative elections as the goal-posts.  However, 
Foucher volunteered that EU Commissioner for Development 
Louis Michel was rather a loose cannon.  Michel had provoked 
Deby by an overly direct, impolitic and patronizing follow-up 
letter to the earlier EU Troika call for dialogue; hence, 
Deby's blast against "foreign" or international involvement 
in the process (Ref A). 
 
French Support for Deby not Unequivocal 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C/NF) Foucher insisted that French policy on Chad, 
specifically French support for Deby, was less clear-cut than 
might appear.  In the heat of the April FUCD offensive, 
Bonnecorse had convoked what Foucher described as a very 
gripping emergency meeting at which it was not self-evident, 
he maintained, whether France would stand by Deby.  The 
argument that Deby had no proper successor won the day -- and 
continues to do so -- and that same meeting saw the explicit 
decision taken, Foucher revealed, for French forces to fire 
the famous warning shot on April 12 against an advancing 
rebel column.  Told that French intelligence and logistical 
support had clearly proved decisive in Deby's repulsing the 
FUCD offensive, Foucher countered that Deby, in the end, had 
 
PARIS 00004080  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
insisted on going it alone, refusing a French offer of 
airlift and instead force-marching troops from the east 
overnight into N'djamena for the showdown in the city.  Asked 
if Deby had sought to deliver the coup de grace without 
French help for symbolic reasons, Foucher demurred, admitting 
he believed Deby opted for the overland route because the 
airlift lacked the capacity to transport certain heavy 
weaponry and munitions he needed. 
 
 
Central African Republic: Beijing Eclipsing Paris? 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶5.  (C) After emerging from turbulence to hold a proper 
election, the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) is rapidly 
backsliding, worrying the French MFA and Presidency. 
A/S-Equivalent for African Affairs Bruno Joubert initiated an 
interagency task force on June 9, including MOD, Finance, 
Development, and MFA.  Although there has been some easing in 
the availability of multilateral assistance thanks to an 
agreement with the IMF and headway with the World Bank, there 
has been no commensurate growth in bilateral assistance -- 
with a key exception.  France is troubled at the degree of 
Chinese encroachment, Foucher said, noting, with 
astonishment, that Chinese aid to C.A.R. in 2005 had 
surpassed that of France. 
 
Togo: Gilchrist Olympio Impedes Dialogue 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C/NF) Africa Watcher noted that he had again been 
approached by self-imposed Togolese exile and principal 
opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio, who was now looking for 
international help in unblocking the naming of a UN mediator 
(Ref B).  Foucher branded Olympio himself as the chief 
obstacle.  Regarding the claim, advanced by Olympio's own 
lieutenants, that the veteran Olympio is all that is holding 
back a radicalization of the Togolese opposition, Foucher 
responded that was hogwash.  Told that Olympio claimed to 
talk regularly by telephone with EC Commissioner for 
Development Louis Michel and with Kofi Annan, whom he knew 
from Ghana, Foucher remarked that Michel (whom Foucher had 
earlier criticized for his tactless diplomacy) had told the 
MFA he found Olympio despicable.  Should Olympio travel to 
Washington, as he has proposed, Foucher predicted he would 
exploit any encounter with U.S. officials; a meeting on UN 
premises in New York, however, struck him as less 
problematic.  Foucher admitted he had never met Olympio 
personally, noting his marginalization by the MFA and French 
Presidency was a policy decision. 
 
Cote d'Ivoire and the Downfall of a French Africanist 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶7.  (C/NF) Africa Watcher queried Foucher on the role of 
Nathalie de La Palme, the chief adviser on Africa to Villepin 
during his tenure as Foreign Minister, and the architect of 
the 2003 Linas-Marcoussis Accord.  Though still attached to 
the MFA, de La Palme was now definitively a non-player, 
Foucher replied.  Bonnecorse had sidelined her, and 
Presidential Chirac had personally relieved her of her role 
on Cote d'Ivoire, in particular, when it became evident she 
had grown too comfortable with President Gbagbo and his 
coterie.  The last straw came when de La Palme nonetheless 
tried to organize a separate trip to Abidjan to coincide with 
a meeting of the International Working Group.  La Palme had 
denied charges of seeking to lead parallel bilateral 
discussions, but the MFA found out the French embassy in 
Abidjan had in fact been tasked by her to organize a program 
of high-level meetings.  Regarding Minister for Cooperation 
Brigitte Girardin, Foucher was lavish in his praise, 
describing her as a real policy player on Africa, squarely in 
the driver's seat on Cote d'Ivoire, and a confidante of the 
French Presidency. 
 
Comment: A Straight-Shooter who works well with the U.S. 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶8. (C/NF) Comment and Biographical Note:  Foucher is 
pragmatic and frank, a straightshooter and valued embassy 
 
PARIS 00004080  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
contact.  Recruited personally by Joubert despite no 
diplomatic service in Africa, Foucher is far from the 
traditional French Africanist, though he oversees the largest 
and for Paris the most challenging division within the MFA 
Africa Bureau.  His career includes postings in Teheran and 
Riyadh, in addition to IO-related service and a four-year 
stint with the French delegation to the United Nations in New 
York.  He also claims to have been a liaison to tribal groups 
key to 2001 Northern Alliance forces in Afghanistan, once 
remarking that, had he not linked himself through Joubert to 
Africa, he would have coveted an ambassadorship in Kabul. 
The 45-year old Foucher is now on the shortlist for a number 
of key embassies in Africa, including N'djamena (protect), 
subject to a decision this summer by the Prime Minister. 
Evidently, Foucher works well with others, certainly with 
Joubert and Bonnecorse.  He respects Bonnecorse, whom he 
claims deserves credit for his quiet efforts at undoing the 
worst traditions of "la Francafrique," an era that Foucher 
claims is definitively at an end. 
 
 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
 
STAPLETON