VZCZCXRO9587
RR RUEHPA RUEHROV
DE RUEHFR #6611/01 2771407
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 041407Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1959
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 0007
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2498

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 006611 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2016 
TAGS: PREL EAID PINR PHUM KDEM NG FR
SUBJECT: NIGER/FRANCE:  ENCOURAGING DEMOCRACY 
 
 
PARIS 00006611  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By:  Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, 1.4 (b/ 
d). 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  Encouraging the development of Niger's 
budding democracy is France's principal concern for that 
country, according to MFA desk officer Michael Deslaimes. 
France shares the U.S.'s general approach to Niger.  In the 
GOF view, Niger enjoys relative stability when compared with 
its neighbors.  However, its democratic tradition is not 
strong and it remains a very poor country with limited 
resources.  According to Deslaimes, Niger so far has not 
suffered significant negative spillover from Chad or Sudan, 
in part because it is more oriented to its west and south 
rather than east and southeast.  Ethnic friction exists 
between the government and the Toubou population but this is 
a centuries-old condition that both sides seem to be 
managing, he explained.  NGOs are active in Niger (sometimes 
more than in more repressive places) and are a factor in 
carrying out diplomacy, according to Deslaimes.  In his view, 
"thinking big" but "acting small" may be the best way to 
effect change in Niger.  France is in the process of 
finalizing a Partnership Framework agreement for channeling 
its assistance to Niger during the 2006-2010 period, with a 
focus on education, health care, and water resource 
management.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Encouraging Democracy 
--------------------- 
¶2.  (C)  MFA Niger desk officer Michael Deslaimes on October 
2 provided a concise overview of Niger and France/Niger 
relations to transiting Embassy Niamey Pol/Cons officer 
Richard Roberts.  Deslaimes said that France's priority in 
Niger was to promote democracy, which had taken root after a 
lengthy period of military rule.  He noted that the military 
and Niger's elites had concluded that that form of government 
was not likely to take Niger in the right direction and had 
instead opted for a more democratic approach, which was 
bearing fruit.  Deslaimes said that Mali had been in a 
similar position and had also chosen democracy, but the two 
countries had differing approaches.  Malians stressed the 
importance of consensus.  In Deslaimes's view, however, 
striving for consensus could sometimes stifle the democratic 
process by discouraging or watering down divergent views.  In 
contrast, Deslaimes described Niger's democracy as more open 
and free-wheeling.  He indicated that Niger's approach seemed 
more effective. 
 
¶3.  (C)  At several points Deslaimes said that he believed 
that France and the U.S. shared a common view of Niger and 
were working towards the same goals -- encouraging democracy 
and economic development.  He remarked that USG and GOF 
elements in Niger worked well together and that there seemed 
to be no policy differences between the U.S. and France. 
 
Little Spillover from the East 
-------------------------------- 
¶4.  (C)  Deslaimes said that Niger's relative stability stood 
in stark contrast to the situation in neighboring countries, 
particularly those to the east (i.e., Chad and Sudan). 
Fortunately for Niger, the spillover from the instability and 
violence in those countries had been minimal.  This was in 
part because Niger historically tended to look more towards 
its west and immediate south rather than to its east and 
southeast, whereas as Chad and Sudan were oriented more 
towards their east and immediate south.  Deslaimes commented 
on the very old and proud cultural traditions that existed in 
Niger, which outsiders sometimes, to their detriment, 
overlooked. 
 
Friction with the Toubou 
------------------------ 
¶5.  (C)  The one ethnic problem of concern in Niger involved 
the Toubou minority.  This was a centuries-old issue, 
Deslaimes said, based in large measure on the nomadic and 
fragmented nature of Toubou society -- "they do not view 
themselves as 'governed' by anyone, and do not enjoy any 
unity even among themselves."  Deslaimes said that the Toubou 
and GON had arrived at a "gentleman's agreement," with both 
sides tacitly agreeing on certain limits that both would 
respect.  For example, Deslaimes said that Toubous drifting 
into Niger from Chad had reached an understanding with 
Niger's border security forces that they would leave their 
weapons at the border and reclaim them should they happen to 
return to the Chad side. 
 
NGOs and "Thinking Big but Acting Small" 
---------------------------------------- 
¶6.  (C)  Deslaimes said that NGOs were quite active in Niger 
and were a factor to be considered by diplomatic missions 
operating there.  He noted that, paradoxically, NGOs in 
 
PARIS 00006611  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
relatively open countries like Niger were often more critical 
of host governments than were NGOs in more repressive 
countries, where they tended to be ignored or pressured into 
silence.  (Deslaimes hastened to add that he was not saying 
Niger was a completely open society, only that it was more 
open than a number of other less-developled nations, 
particulary in its part of Africa.)  NGOs often lobbied the 
French Embassy in Niamey to support reform aggressively in 
Niger, an approach that Deslaimes said had to be balanced 
within the larger context of France-Niger relations and what 
France was trying to accomplish there.  Deslaimes suggested 
that outsiders had to be careful to woo as well as push in 
order to effect change, which NGOs sometimes did not seem to 
take into account.  Deslaimes remarked that in Niger, one 
should "think big" (democracy, rule of law, good governance) 
but "act small" (better to provide school supplies to 25 
village schools than to fund costly travel-abroad programs 
for two or three members of the elite). 
 
Partnership Framework Agreement 
------------------------------- 
¶7.  (C)  Deslaimes said that France was in the process of 
concluding a Partnership Framework agreement with Niger, 
which he thought could be signed within the coming weeks. 
(NOTE:  The GOF's recently initiated Partnership Framework 
program is now the vehicle for channeling French assistance 
to a recipient country, over a five-year period.  The 
framework concept contains built-in flexibility, allowing 
agreements and their components to be modified over the 
course of an accord in response to changing circumstances. 
END NOTE.)  Although refraining from providing specific 
figures (which had perhaps not yet been finalized), Deslaimes 
said the agreement with Niger would focus on education, 
health care, and water resource management (both urban and 
rural). 
 
 
 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
STAPLETON