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DE RUEHFR #4732/01 3511706
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O 171706Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1505
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1444
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 004732 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/18/2017 
TAGS: PREL PHUM MARR SU CD IV RW CT UV FR
SUBJECT: FRANCE/AFRICA:  PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR DISCUSSES KEY 
ISSUES 
 
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, 
.4 (b/d). 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  Presidential AF Advisor Romain Serman on 
December 17 reported on key France-Africa issues, some 
resulting from meetings at the December 8-9 Lisbon EU-Africa 
Summit: 
 
--  Rwanda:  Presidents Sarkozy and Kagame agreed to work to 
normalize relations and to maintain personal supervision of 
this project; 
 
--  Sudan:  Sarkozy pressed President Bashir to expedite 
UNAMID's deployment and distanced France from Darfur rebel 
leader Abdulwahid el-Nur, who may have to leave France after 
December 28, when his current residency visa expires; 
 
--  Cote d'Ivoire:  Sarkozy told President Gbagbo that France 
wanted a reliable voters list, no further backsliding on the 
date for elections, and free, fair, and transparent elections; 
 
--  Djibouti:  Sarkozy and President Guelleh agreed to 
improve relations irrespective of the Borrel Case, with 
Sarkozy explaining that the GOF could do little to limit the 
independence of the judges investigating Borrel's death; 
 
--  Chad/C.A.R.:  The lack of helicopters continues to be the 
main impediment to deploying EUFOR in support of MINURCAT, 
with France in discussion with Russia, Romania, and Bulgaria 
on furnishing the aircraft and with EU partners, particularly 
the UK, on financing them; 
 
--  Sarkozy plans to visit Chad, Angola, and South Africa in 
February 2008, with a speech in South Africa setting forth 
France's policy goals towards Africa. 
 
END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (C)  Romain Serman, one of the AF Advisors at the French 
presidency, on December 17 provided an overview of AF-related 
issues, beginning with the December 8-9 EU-Africa Summit in 
Lisbon, which Serman attended.  He said that Sarkozy's 
December 8 speech was generally well received, especially by 
Europeans who welcomed Sarkozy's frank messages to both 
Europeans and Africans on the need to develop relations on a 
pragmatic basis free of the trappings of the past.  (NOTE: 
Text of the speech in French is available at www.elysee.fr or 
from kanedarj@state.gov.  END NOTE.)  Sarkozy held nine 
bilateral meetings with African leaders. 
 
Rwanda 
------ 
¶3.  (C)  Serman said that the Sarkozy-Kagame meeting was a 
good one, with both sides agreeing to work to normalize 
relations, which were severed by Rwanda in November 2006 
following the issuance of then-Judge Bruguiere's report that 
in effect accused several leading Rwandans, including Kagame, 
of involvement in events leading to the 1994 genocide.  The 
two president met one-on-one for about 10 minutes.  They 
agreed that their respective Foreign Ministers would work 
together to establish a road-map on how to move relations 
forward but that the two presidents would oversee this work 
closely.  Serman said that there was no timetable in place as 
to when relations might eventually be normalized. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Serman commented that it was important that Sarkozy 
and Kagame developed a bit of personal rapport in Lisbon. 
This was facilitated by a part of Sarkozy's speech in which 
he that "we have not always been able to foresee or stop 
dramas that lack a name.  I am thinking of Rwanda and its 
genocide, which makes us, France included, reflect on our 
weaknesses and our errors."  Serman said that this was the 
farthest any French leader had gone in expressing regret 
about France's connection to the genocide, a position that 
Serman (PROTECT) said some in the French military opposed 
when the speech was being vetted. 
 
Sudan/Darfur 
------------ 
¶5.  (C)  Bashir asked to meet with Sarkozy, and the French 
"couldn't say 'no'," Serman reported.  Sarkozy told Bashir 
that he did not "have anything against you personally," with 
both sides noting the generally positive historical relations 
between France and Sudan.  That said, Sarkozy told Bashir 
bluntly that the Darfur problem had to be resolved and that 
the international community could not accept continuation of 
 
the massacres.  He also said that Bashir should not veto 
participation by non-Africans, such as the Nordics or 
Thailand, who wanted to help.  According to Serman, Bashir 
hemmed and hawed, saying that he would "reconsider" some of 
his policies but also stating that UNAMID should be composed 
of African troops or "Asians who are Muslim."  Sarkozy 
pointed out that Europeans never complained about the 
presence of Africans in, for example, Kosovo and Haiti, even 
those were not "African" problems.  Sudan should be open to 
anyone willing to help.  Sarkozy said that Sudan should also 
stop trying to exploit the "Arche de Zoe" case for its own 
ends (the case involving the French NGO that attempted to 
take some 100 children from Chad to France, with some of the 
children allegedly of Sudanese origin). 
 
¶6.  (C)  Darfur rebel leader Abdulwahid el-Nur, currently 
residing in France, was also a subject of discussion.  Bashir 
claimed that France was implicitly favoring the rebels by 
allowing Abdulwahid to stay in France.  Sarkozy said that 
this was not the case and that Abdulwahid's continued failure 
to participate in peace talks could lead to his being 
expelled from France after December 28, when his current visa 
expires.  Serman said that Sarkozy was partially successful 
in disabusing Bashir of the notion that France supported 
Abdulwahid. 
 
¶7.  (C)  Serman said that France was indeed prepared to let 
Abdulwahid's visa expire, thus forcing him to seek residency 
elsewhere.  He said that the GOF was tired of his refusal to 
participate.  The French were asking Senegal, which had 
expressed interest in hosting him, to accept him should he 
have to leave France.  As he holds an Eritrean passport, 
Eritrea might be another eventual destination.  France could 
not cancel his visa prior to December 28 without a UNSC 
resolution sanctioning him or unless he became a "threat to 
public order." 
 
¶8.  (C)  Serman said that, in a transparent move to stave off 
the expiration of his visa, Abdulwahid had had his wife and 
two children request French visas in Nairobi (where they 
reside) to allow them to visit France over the year-end 
holiday season (i.e., just when his visa is to expire on 
December 28).  "He thinks we could not order him to leave 
when his wife and children will have just arrived," Serman 
said.  However, Serman said that the French had denied the 
application for visas for Abdulwahid's wife and children. 
All of this could change, he said, if Abdulwahid joined the 
peace talks, but Serman said that that did not seem likely. 
 
Cote d'Ivoire 
------------- 
¶9.  (C)  In Lisbon, Sarkozy met with Burkina Faso President 
Compaore, Cote d'Ivoire President Gbagbo, and with the two of 
them together.  He stressed France's support of the 
Ouagadougou Peace Accords.  Serman said that one reason 
Sarkozy met with Gbagbo was to disallow Gbagbo from 
insinuating that Sarkozy did not like Gbagbo or was afraid of 
him, an idea Gbagbo has used in his attempts to manipulate 
France's image in Cote d'Ivoire.  Sarkozy wanted to dispel 
the notion that he or the GOF was reluctant to deal with 
Gbagbo.  That, Serman said, is no longer an issue after their 
meeting. 
 
¶10.  (C)  Sarkozy made three points with Gbagbo -- (1) the 
Cote d'Ivoire had to develop a credible list of eligible 
voters; (2) there should be no further tinkering with the 
elections calendar or yet another postponement; and (3) the 
elections themselves had to be free and fair.  Serman said 
that Gbagbo tried to point out that African elections were 
often "irregular," stating (in Compaore's presence) that even 
those in Burkina Faso had not been completely problem-free. 
Compaore did not appreciate this remark, the substance of 
which he denied, and Sarkozy observed Compaore and Gbagbo 
disputing the merits of Burkina Faso's elections and its 
electoral system. 
 
Djibouti 
-------- 
¶11.  (C)  Sarkozy met with Djibouti President Guelleh in 
Paris, during the latter's visit following the Lisbon Summit. 
 Serman said that the meeting was friendly and cordial and 
the two presidents seemed to have developed good personal 
rapport.  Both sides agreed to promote improved relations. 
Concerning the Borrel Affair (the case of the French 
magistrate who died in Djibouti in 1995 and whose death led 
to complex series of court cases involving accusations of 
 
Djiboutian government complicity), Serman said that Sarkozy 
explained to Guelleh the independent nature of the French 
judiciary.  Most importantly, Sarkozy seemed to have 
convinced Guelleh that the French government was not using 
these court cases to try to "get" Guelleh or his associates. 
To the contrary, the French government was interested in 
promoting good relations and avoiding having the Borrel case 
become the sole determinant of the relationship.  Guelleh 
seemed to appreciate Sarkozy's explanations. 
 
¶12.  (C)  Guelleh reportedly expressed concern about the 
French military presence in Djibouti, wondering if France 
might withdraw its forces (which he did not want to see 
happen) because of the U.S. military presence there.  Sarkozy 
said that such was not the case and the French and U.S. 
presences complemented each other.  He said that France had 
not intention of altering its basing arrangement in Djibouti. 
 Sarkozy said that France would increase its development 
programs in Djibouti, including work on such things as 
improving Djibouti's port. 
 
Chad/C.A.R. 
----------- 
¶13.  (C)  Serman said, glumly, that the EU operation for Chad 
and C.A.R. remained a problem, with the principal obstacle 
being the lack of helicopters.  France had been talking to 
Russia, Romania, and Bulgaria, which seemed interested in 
furnishing the helicopters but would need financing.  Serman 
said that France would continue lobbying European partners, 
particularly the UK, in an effort to secure an EU-wide 
commitment to fund the helicopters.  He said that EUFOR would 
need at least a dozen, and no more than 20 helicopters, each 
costing about USD 2 million per year to operate.  This was a 
relatively small sum.  He said that he was optimistic that a 
solution would be found, but he refrained from saying whether 
one was imminent.  Serman noted that the EU would lose 
considerable face if it failed to fund the mission after 
having taken the political decision to form and deploy it. 
 
¶14.  (C)  Serman said that it appeared that a small number of 
transport aircraft would be furnished by Spain and/or 
Portugal.  Asked whether France would fund the helicopters if 
all else failed, Serman said that France was not inclined to 
do so -- "This is supposed to be an EU mission and we are 
already committed to paying for much of it and have already 
committed the bulk of the troops.  It is a matter of 
principle -- the other EU partners should contribute as 
well."  He added that France's financing the helicopters 
would also increase the perception that the operation was 
"French," an impression the French wanted to avoid giving. 
 
Looking Ahead 
------------- 
¶15.  (C)  Serman said that Sarkozy's trip to Africa in 
February 2008 was still on track, with visits to Chad, 
Angola, and South Africa on the agenda.  In Chad, Sarkozy 
would hope to be able to observe the EUFOR/MINURCAT 
deployment at first hand.  In Angola, he expects to further 
the effort on the part of both France and Angola to improve 
relations, which have been in deep-freeze because of the 
Falcone Affair (an complicated arms dealing scheme dating 
back to the Mitterrand and Chirac eras).  In South Africa, 
Sarkozy plans to make a speech before the South African 
Parliament that will build on his July 26 speech in Dakar and 
the December 8 speech in Lisbon and set forth his vision for 
France's evolving policy vis-a-vis Africa. 
 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
 
 
STAPLETON