Daily Press Briefing
Statements made by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson
(excerpts)
(Paris, January 13, 2006)
[Please note that only the original French text issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be considered official.]
HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES
Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, will make an official visit to France on January 16 and 27. He will be received by President Chirac on Tuesday, January 17 at 9:30 a.m.
Prior to that, the High Commissioner will meet with Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, who will preside at a working dinner on January 16. Mr. Guterres will also meet with Defense Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie on January 17 at 10:30 a.m.
Antonio Guterres has taken up the leadership of this UN Program of over 6,800 persons, many of whom fulfill their mission in the field, often in precarious and dangerous conditions. UNHCR is one of the world’s main humanitarian organizations. Through its mandate, which it holds from the 1951 convention on refugees and its additional protocol of 1967, UNHCR offers protection and assistance, benefiting 17 million people, of whom 9.7 million are refugees in the strict sense of the word, the vast majority of them in Africa.
France wishes to show the new high commissioner for refugees its full support for him in this onerous mission. Our country shares Mr. Guterres’ priorities: the fight against growing intolerance, defense of the right of asylum, respect for responsibilities incumbent on states with regard to international law and human rights, and the search for an effective link between humanitarian assistance and development.
France provided aid to UNHCR in operation DORCA (transport of UNHCR and WFP supplies and humanitarian personnel from the French military base in N’djamena in the Darfur crisis, summer of 2004) and transport for UNHCR humanitarian supplies during the air-bridge set up after the earthquake in Pakistan on October 8.
As part of France’s increased support for the UN system, we are increasing our contribution to UNHCR in 2006 by more than 40%, bringing it to a total of 14.5 million euros ($17 million).
Mukhtaran Mai, who has fought with such courage and determination to obtain justice after the heinous act of which she was a victim, is due to be received by Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy on Monday, January 16, at 12 noon.
She embodies the struggle of women, in Pakistan and the world over, to obtain respect for their human rights, their person and their dignity.
Brigitte Girardin, Minister Delegate for Cooperation, Development and Francophony, will be in Africa from January 15 to 17 where she will visit successively Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and Ghana.
1-Ms Girardin, who represented France at the first two meetings of the International Working Group (IWG) on Côte d’Ivoire on November 8 and December 15, 2005, will take part in the third meeting of this body in Abidjan on January 15, which, as you know, is held at ministerial level.
The IWG will examine the progress in the process set out in UNSCR 1633 and the means of promoting implementation of this process.
The IWG, co-chaired by the Nigerian foreign minister, representing the African Union president, and the UN secretary-general’s special representative, also includes representatives from ECOWAS and the African Union, Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Niger, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union, the International Francophony Organization, the World Bank and IMF.
2-The minister will fly to Monrovia the next day where she will represent France at the inauguration of the new president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
After 14 years of a terrible civil war, the inauguration paves the way for the reconstruction of Liberia which must take its place again in the region.
3-Ms Girardin will continue her visit by going on to Accra on January 17 in order to sign the framework partnership which sets out the main lines of French cooperation with Ghana for the next five years (2006-2010). She will have a meeting with President John Agyekum Kufuor.
(…) The visit will afford an opportunity to consolidate the privileged relationship with Ghana, illustrated during President Kufuor’s visit last October, to which France is particularly attached.
(…)
Q - There’ll be no talk of disarmament?
I don’t know whether it will be discussed specifically at this meeting, but disarmament is one of the important aspects in the current process. There was the formation of the government, the implementation of institutions and also disarmament, which must also move forward.
(…)
One comment in regard to the stampede in Mina. I would like to reread the communiqué from the minister released yesterday:
“I was greatly shocked to learn of the tragic accident that caused the deaths today at Mina of several hundred pilgrims making the Grand Pilgrimage.
“I offer my sincere condolences to the victims’ families and loved ones, and extend my sympathy to the Saudi authorities in these difficult circumstances.
“We have no knowledge of any French victims at this stage.
“Two representatives from our Consulate at Jeddah went immediately to the general hospital of Mecca where all the victims have been taken.
“The consulate will remain on the alert until all the victims have been identified.”
This morning we issued a new communiqué:
“We confirm that a Frenchwoman died yesterday during the stampede which occurred at Mina during the Great Pilgrimage to Mecca.
“The family of our compatriot, who are on the spot, are in close contact with our consulate in Jeddah which provided them with all necessary assistance.
“Our staff who are assisting the French pilgrims remain on the alert.”
Q - Do you know whether there were any French citizens injured or hospitalized after the stampede?
As always in talking about tolls, one should be cautious. We know about the Frenchwoman who unfortunately has died. At this time, we’ve no knowledge of any nationals injured. But as we say in our communiqué, our consulate in Jeddah and the office we have in the immediate vicinity of Mecca remain on the alert. We are in contact with the Saudi authorities to be sure there are no other French nationals among the victims.
Q - Has France offered medical assistance or any kind of assistance to help them or not?
So far as I know, we’ve not received any such request.
If there were a request of this kind, we would examine it. We are mobilized to ensure consular protection to our nationals. There are nearly 25,000 from France making the pilgrimage this year. Our office hasn’t intervened just to help French citizens, it has also assisted a number of Algerian and Moroccan pilgrims.
Q - After the latest developments, do you have any comment on Teheran’s reaction regarding the EU3 and referral to the Security Council?
There was the meeting of the three European ministers and Mr. Solana in Berlin yesterday. I suppose you’ve seen the results of the meeting. You’ll also have read the statements made by the various ministers, in particular those by Mr. Douste-Blazy. The ministers noted that Iran had rejected the process of negotiations and therefore that the opportunity opened up in November 2003 had closed. For the immediate future, there will be no meeting on January 18, as planned, and we are working on convening an extraordinary meeting of the IAEA board shortly.
At this time, no definite timetable has been decided on. The priority for us in the immediate future is to proceed with consultations with Russia and China, and with a number of the non-aligned countries and our partners in the international community to see how best to prepare the meeting of the IAEA board. To our thinking, the IAEA will have to report to the UN Security Council in the logic of the resolution voted on September 24 by the board.
With regard to the Iranian statement, I’ve no specific comment. What was said yesterday and which is widely accepted, I believe, is that responsibility for the failure of the negotiations lies with the Iranians. They are the ones who, through their decisions, have in a way decided to reject the negotiation process. Once they did, the Iranians have no reason to be surprised since we had said very clearly that if the negotiation process ended, we would go back to the board of governors resolution and so go back to the IAEA board with the idea of making a report to the Security Council.
The EU3 and Mr. Solana produced these guidelines. Now, we are engaged in a very active phase of consultations with all our partners in the international community. Obviously, this is a problem that concerns the whole international community.
Q - Jack Straw said this morning that the Security Council might consider sanctions against Iran. What do you think? In that case, do you believe Russia and China would support you?
Our priority is consultation with the international community, in particular with Russia and China, which you’ve just mentioned. Then to move forward step by step. The first step will be to prepare and hold the IAEA board meeting. Then we’ll see what emerges from the board.
Then, we hope, there will be a report to the Security Council, but I can’t say today what the Security Council will do. It’s a bit too soon.
(…)
Q - Do you think the procedure adopted in Berlin might influence the Iranian position given that Iran seems intent on a fait accompli, saying they aren’t afraid of sanctions and that they’re within their right. Do you expect this approach to be effective?
If we didn’t think it was effective we wouldn’t follow it. In sound logic, the IAEA board is to submit a report to the Security Council, as the ministers said yesterday, the purpose also being to strengthen the IAEA’s credibility. We’re not completely dropping the IAEA framework. There will be a report to the Security Council, and the Security Council will throw its political weight into the balance to strengthen the credibility of the IAEA. That’s important.
So indeed we hope this message will be heeded by the Iranians. Also, if you read the statement in Berlin yesterday, it says quite clearly that we remain, obviously, committed to resolving the issue diplomatically. And if the Iranians retracted their decision, if they returned to the negotiating table, that would be the best solution for everybody. But it’s up to the Iranians to make the decision to return to the negotiating table by suspending enrichment-related activities.
Q - The case of Iran could be instructive for the region in general, to discourage the development of nuclear weapons in many countries considering it. I’m thinking of Israel for example which is developing a fairly substantial nuclear weapons arsenal.
We’re talking about the case of Iran but, as the ministers said, the non-proliferation regime as a whole is also involved, and it’s in our interest to show, in the case of Iran, that the non-proliferation regime is working. The stakes are considerable for Iran and also for the non-proliferation regime as whole. This was stated very clearly by the minister, Mr. Douste-Blazy.
(…)
Q - In your view has Mr. Ahmadinejad’s arrival on the scene been a factor in the Iranian decision?
Everyone is free to interpret the reasons why Iran made the decisions it did in the last few days. I leave it to you as an observer of the internal political scene in Iran to draw the conclusions you wish. It’s really not my role to do that. We have before us Iranian authorities, we are engaged in dialogue with them and we note that these Iranian authorities have taken decisions that mean that the negotiating process can no longer go on as it had until now.
Q - Does referral to the Security Council mean that the Paris agreement is effectively dead or does the EU3 intend to try to maintain a parallel channel of negotiation with Iran?
The agreement rested on the premise that the Iranians suspended enrichment-related activities. Once they resumed these activities, the opportunity opened by the agreement ended. That’s what was said yesterday. I don’t know whether one should say dead or sleeping. One thing is certain, the framework is no longer one of negotiation. To answer your question, we’re not maintaining any parallel channel of negotiation. The meeting scheduled for January 18 will not take place. Once again, we are always ready, if the Iranians retract their decision, to favor this path of dialogue and negotiation. In the present state of things, we see we cannot continue on this path.
Q - One point often made by the Iranians is the fact they’ve signed the non-proliferation treaty, unlike others in the region, they’ve signed the additional protocol with the IAEA, they’ve agreed to inspections and they have the right, in their view, to develop a civilian nuclear program. Who gives you, France and the other IAEA countries, the right to say they’re not entitled to this right?
I’m not going to enter into an endless debate about this matter. What is true is that the IAEA itself has noted violations by the Iranians of their obligations in the past, and not too distant past. That’s the first point.
Second, in the NPT there is no right to enrichment per se. There is a right to the peaceful use of atomic energy. That’s been said and said repeatedly by everyone. No one disputes the fact that the Iranians have the right to have a civilian nuclear program and the right to civilian nuclear energy. Everyone agrees with that.
Simply, and this was reiterated by the minister yesterday, we don’t think that this necessarily implies on the Iranian side development of enrichment capabilities. The important point is for us to have objective guarantees as to the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program. And that’s been the whole purpose of the negotiation process which was only started in order to obtain these objective guarantees. Once again, we thought the proposals put forward by the Europeans in August and the ideas advanced by the Russians at the time allowed the Iranians both to develop civilian nuclear energy and provide us with the objective guarantees we wanted about the peaceful use of the atom, and thereby to have a solution acceptable both to the Iranians and the international community. Unfortunately, this negotiation process has been broken off, at least for now.
Q - About avian flu and Turkey. Are you taking steps?
There are two aspects. First, preventive measures are being taken, especially regarding the poultry imports at both the national and European levels. There’s a whole follow-up by the Europeans, especially by the EU veterinary experts and health experts who met just recently to address this question. And then there are also the precautions in Turkey. We are sending supplies to our embassy and also vaccines to protect to French community./.
Embassy of France, January 13, 2006