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PP RUEHAG RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHFR #4071/01 2701617
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 271617Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0498
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 004071 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/26/2017 
TAGS: PREL PROG ETRD EINV FR IZ EU IR
SUBJECT: FRENCH READOUT ON IRAQI FM ZEBARI VISIT 
 
Classified By: Political Minister-counselor Josiah Rosenblatt for reaso 
ns 1.4. (b), (d). 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary:  The French MFA,s Iraq desk officer on 
September 20 described Iraqi FM Zebari,s brief visit to 
Paris as a useful opportunity to take stock of some bilateral 
issues FM Kouchner had not raised during his visit to Baghdad 
last month but little else.  Part of this was due to the fact 
that Zebari,s trip had long been planned prior to 
Kouchner,s hastily arranged visit and part to the fact that 
the French are still mulling over what to do next vis-a-vis 
Iraq.  Talk about possible French police training actually 
seems to have translated into expanded French assistance in 
the context of EU training for the Iraqi judiciary that 
includes police investigators.  Kouchner, at Zebari,s 
urging, agreed to attend the Istanbul &neighbors8 
ministerial, although a scheduling conflict will likely force 
France to send another ministerial-level representative. 
Zebari complained about Iranian meddling in Iraq, and 
Kouchner indicated the French embassy office in Irbil should 
be opened before the end of this calendar year.  Iraq,s 
ambassador to France subsequently told us that Airbus and 
Total are actively seeking to reactivate contracts and 
commercial relationships in place with Iraq prior to the 1990 
invasion of Kuwait.  End summary 
 
¶2.  (C)  French MFA Iraq desk officer Olivier Masseret on 
September 20 gave us a readout of Iraqi FM Zebari,s 
September 14 visit to Paris.  After reminding us that the 
visit had been scheduled for some time prior to French FM 
Kouchner,s visit to Baghdad and thus was not entirely a 
follow-up to Kouchner,s trip, it had nevertheless allowed 
Kouchner a chance to update Zebari on French thinking about 
Iraq.  Masseret highlighted the following key points: 
 
--Unlike Kouchner,s August visit, Zebari,s brief stopover 
in Paris, on his way eventually to New York, allowed the two 
sides to cover some purely bilateral issues.  These included 
legal claims by French firms for unpaid bills going back to 
the oil-for-food program, Iraqi requests for debt relief, and 
the status of the investigation into the 2003 disappearance 
of French national Frederic Nerac.  (Comment:  The latter 
case, for which the MFA summoned UK, Danish, and U.S. emboffs 
recently to deliver a message --reported by e-mail and to be 
reported septel -- involves a cameraman for the British ITV 
whose fate has been unknown since a British military patrol 
near Basra was attacked by insurgents.  End comment) 
Masseret noted that Zebari,s presence was timely and offered 
the MFA a chance to underscore the Presidency,s strong 
interest in determining what happened to Nerac.  On the other 
items, Masseret reported little progress but agreement to 
continue discussions. 
 
--Kouchner briefed Zebari on Kouchner,s efforts within the 
EU to rally support for a new multilateral effort, led by the 
UN, on behalf of Iraq.  Masseret agreed with our observation 
that Kouchner had an ally within the EU in the form of 
Swedish Foreign Minister Bildt, who had also recently visited 
Baghdad.  They both spoke of the need to lend concerted EU 
support to Iraq at the September 7-8 Gymnich meeting. 
France, according to Masseret, will push for formal 
consideration of Iraq at the next gathering of EU foreign 
ministers set to occur before the summit in Lisbon. 
 
--Kouchner and Zebari spoke about regional diplomatic efforts 
and meetings scheduled during the UNGA on Iraq,s behalf. 
Zebari also pressed Kouchner to attend the &neighbors8 
ministerial scheduled to occur in Istanbul in early November. 
 Although Kouchner readily agreed to do so, Masseret 
indicated that Kouchner will actually be on an official visit 
to China.  The GOF will, therefore, have to find another 
minister-level representative to send. 
 
--Zebari complained to Kouchner about Iranian meddling in 
Iraq.  Masseret stated that this was mentioned less in the 
context of a plea for French help with Tehran but as a 
growing and troubling reality with which the GOI had to 
contend with obvious negative implications for internal 
political stability. 
 
--Kouchner apologized to Zebari over remarks he had made in 
&Newsweek8 calling for Iraqi PM Maliki,s replacement. 
Picking up on Kouchner,s enduring explanation that he had 
repeated what he had heard from Iraqis during his visit to 
Baghdad, Zebari criticized Kouchner for having given the 
impression that he, as French foreign minister, agreed with 
what his Iraqi interlocutors were saying.  (Note:  As 
reported in Paris Points, this was virtually the only 
bilateral subject Zebari raised in an interview he gave to 
&Le Monde8 during his visit to Paris.)  Masseret contended 
that this unpleasant affair was likely finally finished with. 
 
 
PARIS 00004071  002 OF 002 
 
 
--Koucnher told Zebari that work to establish a &French 
embassy office8 in Irbil would be accelerated.  Masseret 
confirmed this was happening, and he predicted it would now 
be in place well before the end of this year.  The second 
such post in Basrah, however, was on a much slower track 
because of the security situation.  He claimed that Kouchner 
cautioned Zebari not to expect something to open in Basrah as 
quickly as Irbil. 
 
¶3.  (C)  Masseret had little new to say about the current 
state of French thinking on Iraq.  The minister was looking 
forward to his visits to Washington and New York for further 
consultations with senior U.S. and UN officials.  Regarding 
the latter, Kouchner would make the rounds at the 
Secretariat, including with UNSYG Ban Ki Moon, to discuss UN 
 
SIPDIS 
hesitation to return in force given the security situation. 
The GOF considers the recent UNSCR on a reinforced UN 
presence crucial and, inasmuch as the French regard the UN as 
the key to further international efforts on Iraq, wants to 
help as much as possible. 
 
¶4.  (C)  With respect to further French thinking on how to 
help Iraq, Masseret stated that there has not been much 
progress beyond what the Embassy has previously reported.  We 
asked again about the possible training of Iraqi police 
personnel, and Masseret responded that this continues to be 
outside the realm of French thinking for reasons previously 
advanced, i.e., concern that training Iraqi policemen for the 
moment equals training militiamen.  However, France is 
playing an active part in the EU-sponsored &JUSTLEX8 
program aimed at providing investigative and judicial 
training for personnel in the Iraqi justice system, including 
judges, prosecutors, and police investigators. 
 
¶5.  (C)  Iraqi Ambassador to France Muwaffaq Abbud provided 
his perspective on the visit over lunch September 24 with 
Ambassador Stapleton.  Because of the limited amount of time 
Zebari had in Paris, probably a function of the less 
propitious conditions in terms of bilateral relations when 
the visit was arranged, Kouchner was Zebari,s senior most 
GOF contact.  Abbud added little to what Masseret told us, 
although he indicated that Kouchner had invited a 
representative from the French Ministry of Justice to attend 
the meeting with Zebari for the discussion on judicial 
assistance.  Despite his skepticism about any meaningful role 
the EU or UN could play in Iraq for the foreseeable future, 
Abbud saw the Zebari visit as confirmation of the positive 
trajectory for French/Iraqi relations since Kouchner,s 
visit.  Abbud expressed relief that Sarkozy had chosen 
Kouchner to be his foreign minister and not Hubert Vedrine, 
whose views on Iraq (and lack of past personal involvement) 
Abbud clearly felt would not have made him as eager or 
amenable to a rapprochement as Kouchner.  Looking ahead, 
Abbud indicated that he looks forward to Kouchner,s return 
and even a Sarkozy visit to Beghdad.  (Comment:  The latter 
strikes us as a very remote possibility at this stage.  End 
comment) 
 
¶6.  (C)  Abbud reported some progress in terms of 
reestablishing commercial ties between France and Iraq. 
Airbus, according to Abbud, is pursuing the revival of a 
contract to sell aircraft to Iraq that had not been finalized 
when sanctions were imposed in 1990.  Representatives from 
the French oil company Total, meanwhile, met with Zebari to 
discuss their company,s interest in returning to fields it 
had worked in the south before sanctions were imposed.  Abbud 
suggested that Total is hoping for some special treatment, 
given its past involvement, but the GOI had so far been 
noncommittal and said that Total,s bid would be considered 
alongside others. 
 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
 
 
Stapleton