VZCZCXYZ0042
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHFR #4854/01 1981552
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 171552Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9559
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0626
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 5474
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0809

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 004854 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/13/2016 
TAGS: FR IO PK PREL
SUBJECT: PAKISTANI FM KASURI'S JULY 5 MEETING WITH FRENCH 
FM DOUSTE-BLAZY 
 
 
Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Will Owen for reasons 1.4 (b/ 
d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri 
discussed a range of issues with French Foreign Minister 
Philippe Douste-Blazy in meetings in Paris on July 5. 
According to the MFA's Pakistan desk officer, Kasuri appeared 
stunned when Douste-Blazy requested a list of the sensitive 
technologies transferred by Pakistani scientist Khan to Iran. 
 Kasuri brushed aside concerns about Iran's delaying tactics, 
suggesting the dispute between the P5  1 and Iran over 
whether Iran should respond to the incentives package 
amounted to "a couple of weeks."  Kasuri likened the Israeli 
reaction to the abduction of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit to the 
"tactics employed by the Third Reich."  On the bilateral 
front the GoF and Pakistan discussed enlarging their areas of 
cooperation and creating a strategic partnership.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
UN REFORM AND IRAN 
----------------- 
¶2. (C) PolOff met with French MFA Pakistan desk officer Cyril 
Gerardon on July 11 for readout of the Kasuri/Douste-Blazy 
meetings in Paris on July 5.  On the subject of UN reform, 
Gerardon reported that Kasuri emphasized that the UN needed 
to become more "egalitarian," and added that this could not 
be achieved if Pakistan were not given a seat on the Security 
Council along with India.  Switching to Iran, Douste-Blazy 
inquired about Abdul Qader Khan,s nuclear dealings with 
Iran, and asked if Pakistan would provide a listing of 
sensitive technologies, destinations, and financial 
information concerning technology transfers to Iran.  Kasuri, 
surprised by the question, answered that that information had 
already been provided to the satisfaction of the United 
States.  Given his respected position as the father of 
Pakistan's nuclear program, Kahn could not be punished for 
his actions, Kasuri concluded. 
 
¶3. (C) Kasuri continued by saying that the recent dispute 
between the P5  1 and Iran over whether Iran should respond 
to the incentives package in mid-July or early August 
amounted to a difference of a "couple of weeks," which, 
Kasuri contended, was minor.  He added that there was a large 
Iranian domestic component to the Iranian nuclear issue that 
the West should not ignore.  Kasuri expressed regret that 
acrimony between the U.S. and Iran was preventing the two 
countries from better exploiting their many convergent 
interests.  He said that the U.S. and Iran would both benefit 
from stable governments in Iraq and Afghanistan; he said that 
both countries were against the Taliban in Afghanistan and 
against the Baathist and Wahabi resistance in Iraq.  Sadly, 
he added, neither government seems willing to work with the 
other in pursuit of common goals. 
 
ISRAEL 
------ 
¶4. (C) While Douste-Blazy said that the Israeli reaction to 
the abduction of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit was 
disproportionate, Kasuri called it completely inhumane and 
likened it, Gerardon said, to "strategies and tactics 
employed by the Third Reich."  Kasuri claimed that Pakistan, 
perhaps more than any other Muslim nation, has reached out to 
Jews, and he cited Pakistani President Musharraf's meeting 
with members of the American Jewish Committee.  Kasuri said 
that Musharraf viewed contact with an "enlightened Jewish 
community" --  that recognized the utility of compromising 
with the Palestinians -- as a means of progressing towards a 
peaceful solution to the conflict.  He added that recent 
Israeli actions have dampened Pakistani optimism that such a 
solution is attainable with the current Israeli government. 
Kasuri opined that the U.S., with elections coming up and 
concerns about Iraq, was limited in what it could do to 
improve the situation. 
 
RUSSIA 
------ 
¶5. (C) Kasuri expressed shock and anger in response to 
Russian President Vladimir Putin,s statement following the 
killing of five Russian diplomats in Iraq.  Kasuri, who 
showed little sympathy for the Russian president through the 
meetings, thought that the heavy-handed statement ran the 
risk of exacerbating tensions between the Muslim world and 
the West.  Kasuri encouraged France to combat negative 
stereotypes of Islam and Muslims in France and in the EU 
saying that ordinary Pakistanis were very much concerned with 
Western portrayals of Islam, which regularly received 
prominent play in the Pakistani press. 
 
2007 ELECTIONS 
 
-------------- 
¶6. (C) Douste-Blazy pushed for democratic elections in 
Pakistan in 2007 in accordance with the expectations of the 
international community.  Kasuri, while never promising that 
such elections would occur, affirmed that the underpinnings 
of a more democratic society were already in place in 
Pakistan, such as a free press (Kasuri called it an "unruly 
press") and a parliament that had been duly elected. 
 
BILATERAL 
--------- 
¶7. (C) On the bilateral front, the GoF and Pakistan discussed 
enlarging their areas of cooperation and creating a strategic 
partnership (Gerardon explained that the term  Strategic 
Partnership, in the case of Pakistan did not put it on par 
with the strategic partnership France already enjoys with 
India).  France and Pakistan agreed to establish a technical 
university in Karachi, and Kasuri pushed for a Renault 
assembly plant to be built in Karachi.  The two parties also 
discussed the sale of armaments, though Gerardon said 
Douste-Blazy stressed the importance of controlling access to 
dual-use technologies. 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
 
STAPLETON