Daily Press Briefing
Statements made by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson
(excerpts)
(Paris, June 12, 2006)
[Please note that only the original French text issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be considered official.]
DISAPPEARANCE OF FREDERIC NERAC
Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy met this morning with Ms Nérac, wife of French cameraman Frédéric Nérac, who worked for ITN television and went missing on March 22, 2003 between Basra and Al Zudayr the day after US forces entered Iraq.
The minister wanted to reaffirm to Ms Nérac that the French government is fully determined to continue its investigations with a view to finding her husband’s body.
The minister described the steps the French authorities had recently undertaken in the Basra and Al Zudayr region and the fact-finding missions that have taken place.
The minister did however cite the present security context in Iraq and the instability at this time in the south and the Basra region where Frédéric Nérac disappeared.
“The circumstances make the searches very difficult and require our investigations to be made with a great deal of caution, but this does not lessen our determination,” the minister said.
DISAPPEARANCE OF GUY-ANDRE KIEFFER
Philippe Douste-Blazy also met with Bernard Kieffer, brother of Guy-André Kieffer, a freelance journalist, who disappeared in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on April 16, 2004.
The minister wished to confirm to Mr. Kieffer his determination and that of the French authorities to shed full light on his brother’s disappearance.
He recalled that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remained fully mobilized to assist in Paris and in Abidjan the judge handling the investigation and to help him establish the truth in this painful matter.
He also said that the Ministry seized the opportunity of every meeting with the political authorities in Côte d’Ivoire to ask for their help in this undertaking.
Brigitte Girardin, Minister Delegate for Cooperation, Development and Francophony, and Tayeb Fassi Fihi, Moroccan Minster Delegate for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, will close the second partnership steering committee meeting (COPP) on June 13 at 12 noon in Paris (20 rue Monsieur).
The COPP, set up to give direction to Franco-Moroccan cooperation and provide a framework, aims to modernize the Franco-Moroccan partnership: fundamental reforms sought by Morocco in order to encourage development, renewed relations with the European Union, greater participation by all actors in French-Moroccan cooperation (civil society, local authorities, economic operators, associations, etc.).
The two ministers will sign a 900-million-euro partnership framework document defining the sectors on which our partnership will be focused for the next five years (education, development of the productive sector, infrastructure, water and sanitation), and setting out a list of projects.
Seven French mountain climbers and the 14 Nepalese accompanying them died in the October 2005 avalanche on Mt. Kang Guru in Nepal. Only two bodies were found and identified at that time by a team sent out by the Foreign Ministry which included alpine guides from the school of skiing and mountain climbing, and an alpine squad of gendarmes from Chamonix.
A reconnaissance and identification mission consisting of two alpine guides was sent back to Nepal from June 3 to 11, 2006 by the Foreign Ministry. The team, working in very difficult conditions, was able to find the bodies of three of our five missing compatriots and two sherpas. The bodies were identified in Katmandu on June 9 by an expert from the natural disasters national identification unit mandated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The families of our three compatriots were notified.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to underscore the exceptional work of the two alpine guides who successfully carried out this sensitive operation and extends the tribute to their Nepalese sherpas.
FRENCH INSTITUTE/ALLIANCES FRANCAISES/POLAND
The Institut de France, which was founded in 1795 and groups five academies including the Académie française, will present a 750,000-euro-gift to the Alliances françaises in Poland on June 14 for the rehabilitation of their network.
Most of the 17 Alliance françaises were founded in the 1970s and operate in partnership with Polish universities. The Alliances françaises need to adapt to the competitive context in foreign-language teaching in Poland, and the gift is intended for this purpose.
The Alliances françaises will thus acquire functional premises with multimedia equipment so they can modernize French-language teaching and learning through the use of information and communications technologies. A portal listing Francophone resources will improve the promotion of French in Poland by offering teachers and students new services and products.
Q - How do you interpret the negative comments that Iran has again made about the European offer? Do you, like Javier Solana, expect an answer from Teheran this week?
Foreign ministers are discussing the nuclear dossier in Luxembourg today at the general affairs/external relations council. They will be briefed by the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana. As you know, the details of the offer worked out by Germany, France, Britain, the United States, Russia and China were delivered to the Iranian authorities by Javier Solana on June 6. It is now up to Teheran to officially respond to this offer. Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy will speak about the question at his press briefing after the luncheon in Luxembourg.
Q - Are the recent suicides in the Guantanamo camp a further reason for France to ask the Americans to shut down the prison camp?
You’ll have seen that the American authorities have opened an investigation into what happened. So we should wait for the results of the inquiry.
Also there are several judicial procedures in the American courts; in particular the Supreme Court is examining a number of appeals.
France has reiterated many times that it is committed to the observance of international conventions and the principles of international law.
Q - Do you support the idea of a referendum which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has proposed?
The situation in the Middle East is on the agenda at the general affairs/external relations council so the foreign minister will probably comment on it at the press conference which will be held in Luxembourg./.
Embassy of France, June 12, 2006