VZCZCXRO4979
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHFR #7337/01 3131622
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 091622Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3032
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 007337 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/01/2016 
TAGS: PREL FR EUN PGOV PHUM UNAUS YI SR BK CG IS
LE, IR, RS, UZ, CU, KPAL, TU, CY 
SUBJECT: FRANCE/GAERC: GOF MAD ON LEBANON; SKEPTICAL ON 
MIDDLE EAST; FM GOES TOO FAR ON TURKEY-CYPRUS 
 
REF: STATE 183545 
 
Classified By: A/DCM Josiah Rosenblatt for reasons 1.4 (B & D). 
 
¶1.  (U) We shared reftel points November 7 with MFA 
DAS-equivalent for the Middle East Herve Besancenot, 
DAS-equivalent for Iran Franck Gellet, DAS-equivalent for 
Nonproliferation (Iran) Philippe Errera and Deputy David 
Bertolotti, and DAS-equivalent for CFSP Emmanuel Cohet. 
Separately, we raised with DAS-equivalent for Southern Europe 
Marine du Carne FM Douste-Blazy's public statement suggesting 
that Turkey needed to recognize Cyprus by the time of the EU 
Summit in December. 
 
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 
---------------------------- 
¶2.  (C) Besancenot responded November 8 that he generally 
agreed with U.S. points, with two notable exceptions.  On 
para 4 regarding implementation of the USSC Karni Plan, 
Besancenot said that France's priority is ensuring that the 
Rafah Crossing stays open.  "We,ll talk about Karni when the 
Rafah Crossing is really open," Besancenot said.  He 
explained that the Quai is unhappy with the status quo 
whereby Israel allows the Rafah Crossing to open for a day or 
two, and then closes the crossing for alleged security 
reasons.  Besancenot questioned the seriousness of those 
security concerns, suggesting that Israel was instead using 
closure of the crossing as a means of pressuring the PA to 
facilitate the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. 
 
¶3.  (C) Besancenot also objected to the mention in para 5 of 
PM Olmert,s agreement, in principle, to use frozen 
Palestinian customs revenue transfers to support "limited 
humanitarian projects."  Besancenot said that agreement was 
"good, but not sufficient" and that all of the frozen 
revenues should be transferred via the Temporary 
International Mechanism. 
 
Lebanon/Syria 
------------- 
¶4.  (C) Besancenot objected to the lack of mention of Israeli 
overflights.  "For us that,s not acceptable -- overflights 
should be mentioned in the first line," said Besancenot.  He 
then recited the MFA,s standard litany on overflights: they 
are contrary to international law and the spirit of UNSCR 
1701; while France is sympathetic to Israel's security needs, 
some overflights are clearly and unnecessarily provocative; 
there is a linkage between ending overflights and enforcing 
the arms embargo; and overflights undermine the position of 
Lebanese PM Siniora.  He complained that the Israeli Air 
Force (IAF) was not under adequate civilian control, noting 
that the Israeli MFA has told the Quai that complaints about 
the overflights need to be taken up directly with the IAF ) 
an "irregular" response in Besancenot,s opinion.  "One 
cannot simply deal with the arms embargo without saying one 
word on overflights," he concluded.  (Comment:  The French 
position will likely have hardened further in the wake of MOD 
Alliot-Marie's public statements that French forces came 
close to firing in defense on Israeli aircraft.  FM 
Douste-Blazy convoked the Israeli Ambassador the morning of 
November 9 to discuss the incident.  End comment.) 
 
Turkey-EU 
--------- 
¶5.  (C) Separately, we raised FM Douste-Blazy's November 8 
statement that France would deem it necessary to review 
Turkey's EU membership timetable if Turkey did not recognize 
"the 25 EU Member States" by the end of the year.  Carne 
affirmed that Douste-Blazy's statement represented "nothing 
new" and that France was not about to raise the ante or 
attach new conditions to Turkish obligations in the period 
between the issuance of the Commission report and the EU 
summit in December.  She said France continued to subscribe 
to the common EU declaration of last year: Turkey would need 
to recognize Cyprus "in time," i.e., prior to eventual 
accession, but that the immediate need was for the Turks, in 
accordance with the Ankara Protocol, to open their ports to 
Cypriot vessels in the next month. 
 
¶6.  (C) Asked whether France was now in favor of suspending 
negotiations if Turkey did not take sufficient steps by that 
time, Carne indicated that, here also, Douste-Blazy had 
perhaps strayed a little too far.  She said France would 
await the results of Turkish actions in the coming weeks and 
Finnish recommendations for the Summit before developing a 
firm position on next steps.  That said, the Douste-Blazy 
statement suggests that France tends more to a harsh rather 
than a soft response. 
 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
 
PARIS 00007337  002 OF 002 
 
 
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