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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 000618 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR INR/R/MR; IIP/RW; IIP/RNY; BBG/VOA; IIP/WEU; AF/PA; 
EUR/WE /P/SP; D/C (MCCOO); EUR/PA; INR/P; INR/EUC; PM; OSC ISA 
FOR ILN; NEA; WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE; DOC FOR ITA/EUR/FR 
AND PASS USTR/PA; USINCEUR FOR PAO; NATO/PA; MOSCOW/PA; 
ROME/PA; USVIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC KMDR FR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Hamas Afghanistan - London 
Donors' Conference Greenspan's Departure 
PARIS - Tuesday, January 31, 2006 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
Hamas 
Afghanistan - London Donors' Conference 
Greenspan's Departure 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
Domestic social and economic issues dominate today's front 
pages and editorial commentaries: the Arcelor takeover bid by 
Mittal Steel, Poland's veto to a VAT of 5.5 % for 
construction, lower unemployment rates for 2005, PM Villepin's 
defense of the CPE (employment proposal for youths) at the 
National Assembly and Chirac's choice of May 10 as the 
commemorative date for the abolition of slavery are today's 
front page stories. In international news, Europe's conditions 
to Hamas make the front page of Liberation and Le Figaro and 
are widely reported in Le Monde. (See Part C) France Soir 
calls Hamas's Charter "a call to hatred" and the "worst type 
of extreme right rhetoric." "The extreme poverty of the 
Palestinians is no excuse for this type of sick talk. The 
excerpts we publish are terrifying," says France Soir. In Le 
Parisien a Political Science professor and Middle East expert, 
Jean-Paul Chagnollaud is interviewed: "It would be tragic if 
Iran were to take the place of those countries financing the 
Palestinian territories." 
 
In La Croix Agnes Rotivel interviews Mouin Rabbani of the 
International Crisis Group, who says: "The arrival of Hamas as 
part of the government opens new vistas. The EU should not 
base its financial aid on Hamas's past identity but on its 
future actions." 
 
The Afghanistan donors' conference in London under the UN 
auspices is written up in Le Figaro, which emphasizes the 
need to eradicate the poppy seed industry. (See Part C) Le 
Figaro interviews Afghanistan's Finance Minister who calls on 
the international community to remember its pledge for 
reconstruction. "Afghanistan must exploit its natural 
resources and eradicate the poppy seed industry. But we can 
only do this gradually: today drugs represent a budget of 3 
billion dollars a year, one third of our country's economy." 
 
Several reports anticipate on President Bush's State of the 
Union address. Financial La Tribune titles its article: 
"President Bush Puts Away His Major Economic Reforms," while 
Le Figaro reports: "Bush wants to bounce back, ten months 
before the mid-term elections." According to Philippe Gelie 
"the President is in an uncomfortable position to save the 
Senate's Republican majority." Gelie predicts that in 
tonight's speech Bush will continue to "defend the war and the 
need to protect the nation with the same determination." 
Francois d'Alancon in La Croix predicts that "President Bush's 
State of the Union address will try to energize the Republican 
base, while trying not to give new fodder to the Democrats, 
who have sufficient matter in their hands: Iraq's instability, 
the Abramoff suit, and the eavesdropping controversy." 
 
Alan Greenspan's departure elicits wide coverage. In Le Figaro 
Yves de Kerdrel asks: "Should we regret Greenspan?" His 
conclusion is `no,' because Greenspan was too powerful, a 
"deus ex machina:"  "Bernanke's task will be to convince the 
markets they are their own masters." In Le Monde an op-ed 
contends he will be much missed in Europe (See Part C), while 
Les Echos in its editorial notes that Greenspan had the 
ability "to give people the impression that he could control 
the situation. this degree of confidence relied entirely on 
the man not on the institution." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
Hamas 
 
"Hamas's Victory Causes a Shockwave" 
Olivier Roy in right-of-center Le Figaro (01/31): "Hamas's 
victory illustrates the complexity of the Middle East's re- 
composition, which can be placed at the intersection of a 
democratization process encouraged by the U.S. . and a front 
of `refusal' led by Tehran. Of course both processes cancel 
each other out. But the problem is that we tend to over 
simplify the Middle East into an opposition between democracy 
and `terrorism,' a vision which serves as the basis for 
Washington's policy. But the fact is that Al-Qaeda, Hamas and 
Iran are not expressions of the same violence. More than ever, 
the Sunni-Shiite opposition is guiding the Middle East: the 
Sunni Arabs are terrified of the Shiite progression. Once 
again the Middle East is at a new crossroads: the political 
integration of Islamic parties needs time, of which there is 
little. The Palestinians did not vote for Hamas in order to 
destroy Israel, but so that Hamas could take care of security, 
corruption, schools and water distribution. Meanwhile Hamas is 
under extreme pressure from Israel and the West to comply with 
short-term demands. The choices are few: from Palestine to 
Afghanistan to Iraq, stepping back is no longer an option. 
Stepping away from democratization will only increase regional 
instability and give Islamists a monopoly on the democratic 
process." 
 
"The Irresistible Progression of Islamic Parties in the Arab- 
Muslim World." 
Renaud Girard in right-of-center Le Figaro (01/31): "In the 
past two years, wherever democratic elections have been 
organized, Islamic parties have progressed spectacularly. 
Islamism, which aims to replace the law of men by the law of 
God, is not new. But we cannot escape from the obvious: in the 
Arab-Muslim world, the graft of European-style governance, 
made during colonization and based on a separation between the 
religious and the political, has been rejected by the people. 
The strength behind the Brotherhood's slogan, `Islam is the 
answer', is both simplistic and effective. For the poor, Islam 
is a liberating religion, which calls for submission to God, 
not men. This appeal is much stronger than the appeal of the 
western principle of equality, which is considered 
hypocritical. In addition, the image which the western world 
gives of itself to the Muslim masses is considerably 
tarnished. What social model can the West offer, when we are 
afraid to have children and abandon our elders to the care of 
strangers? It would be vain for the West to try and break this 
(Islamic) trend. It is important that we let the societies of 
the Arab-Muslim world experience their own governments of God. 
Meanwhile, we at home, should continue to demand democracy of 
men for all." 
 
Afghanistan - London Donors' Conference 
 
"Effectiveness at Stake" 
Francois Chipaux in left-of-center Le Monde (01/31): "The 
reticence on the part of the donors can be explained by the 
level of corruption within the Afghan government. and the 
government's inability to effectively use the money that it 
has. The London Conference should provide an opportunity for 
the international community to rethink its action in a new 
context since today Afghanistan has a president and a 
parliament." 
 
Greenspan's Departure 
 
"A Star Takes a Bow" 
Pierre-Antoine Delhommais in left-of-center Le Monde (01/31): 
"Greenspan's departure will be lamented the most in Europe. 
where he was a symbol of an enlightened central bank that was 
as attentive to the evolution of the indexes as he was to 
unemployment, inflation and monetary aggregates. For many 
reasons, the admiration that many have for Greenspan in Europe 
is surprising. First of all because economic growth in the 
U.S. developed at the expense of European growth and even if 
he is not directly involved. Greenspan approved Washington's 
weak dollar strategy. In Europe, Greenspan is exonerated from 
any responsibility in this strategy that is viewed as entirely 
the fault of the White House." STAPLETON