Daily Press Briefing
Statements made by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson
(excerpts)
(Paris, September 19, 2006)
[Please note that only the original French text issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be considered official.]
FRANCE/KENYA/ERITREA
Cooperation, Development and Francophony Minister Delegate Brigitte Girardin will travel to Kenya and then Eritea from September 21 to 23.
In Kenya the minister delegate will be received by President Kibaki. She will then proceed to sign a framework partnership document with the finance minister defining the priorities and resources of French development assistance to Kenya for the next five years.
The three sectors chosen are water and sanitation, infrastructure (roads and energy) and the environment. French aid mobilizes significant resources (about 65 million euros a year, primarily in the form of subsidized loans from the French Development Agency), confirming the importance we attach to Kenya where France is the fourth leading donor.
(…)
In Eritrea the minister delegate will meet with President Issaias Afeworki and proceed in the presence of Eritrean dignitaries and the French community to inaugurate the recently renovated French Embassy and Alliance française. This event and the visit reflect our wish to maintain and develop dialogue with the Eritrean authorities.
France condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks in the Kandahar region yesterday that killed 21 people, including four Canadian soldiers with ISAF.
It offers its sincerest condolences to the victims’ families and friends. It is forwarding a message of support to the Canadian authorities and renews its solidarity with the Afghan people.
These events do not shake the determination of France and the international community to assist Afghanistan in its efforts to achieve stability and rebuild.
Q - The troops stationed there asked desperately for aid last week. How come no one is responding? Can France deploy additional forces?
There was a discussion in NATO among the various partner countries on the situation in Afghanistan, which is certainly troubling, and an eventual call for additional troops. As you know, our country is already very involved in Afghanistan. We are taking part in Operation Enduring Freedom, which was launched in response to the attacks on September 11, 2001. We have a number of military personnel present, either with the Special Forces or attached to the Afghan army to help with its training. We’re also present in the NATO-led ISAF, the International Security and Assistance Force, and from this standpoint we have a battalion deployed in Kabul, about 650 strong. We also have a number of commitments with the naval force in the Arabian Sea. We are present in the air units. We’re also present in terms of air support in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Lastly we’ve a number of men in reserve in the NATO strategic reserve force, who are mobilized. As you can see, we are extremely active in the framework of this military presence. As of August 6 we also have responsibility for the Kabul region command, and we’ve reinforced our presence in this area. Given this deployment we’re extremely sensitive to the calls made, given the security situation prevailing in Afghanistan.
Q - Everyone says the same thing. All those engaged in Afghanistan are saying the same thing—isn’t the West in the process of abandoning Afghanistan?
I can’t speak for other countries. I know that some responded positively to the request for additional assets. What I’m saying--and I’m speaking for France—is that as far as we are concerned, we are already heavily involved and therefore have a strong presence in the international force in Afghanistan at this time.
Yunus Qanooni, Speaker of the Afghan Parliament, will make an official visit to France from September 18 to 22 at the invitation of National Assembly Speaker Jean-Louis Debré. This is Mr. Qanooni’s first visit abroad. During his stay he will have talks with Mr. Debré and with Henri Cuq, Minister Delegate for Relations with Parliament. He will also be received by the Quai d’Orsay’s secretary general.
The visit illustrates the dynamism of our bilateral relations. One of the points in the area of the rule of law deals with the training of Afghan Parliament administrators. Through the institutional exchanges being set up between the two assemblies, France is showing its resolve to continue, beyond its military presence, cooperation with the Afghan authorities and with civil society.
France condemns yesterday’s attack in Baidoa on Somali President Abdullah Ahmed Yussuf when he was leaving Parliament, which killed about ten people. The attack underscores the need to support the current transition process in Somalia, particularly the federal transition institutions (parliament, government, president) which are in place and are intended to operate throughout Somalia’s territory.
We have taken note of the negotiations begun under Arab League auspices between the transitional government and the Islamic courts, and the protocol of agreement reached in Khartoum on September 4. We would like to see these negotiations on consolidating the transition process succeed.
(…)
Q - A British minister said this morning that military intervention in Darfur wasn’t ruled out. Is that France’s position too?
As you know, there’s to be a meeting at ministers’ level in New York. It was requested by several countries and is due to be held Friday. What we’ve noted at this stage is a request from the Sudanese authorities to extend the AMIS mandate until the end of 2006.
You’ll also have seen, as I did, the statements by President Chirac on the question, saying that he would make two solemn appeals, one to the Sudanese authorities, to agree to United Nations forces and the other to the United Nations to confirm its willing to send troops after AMIS leaves.
So that’s where matters stand as far as we are concerned. The situation in Darfur is a matter of ongoing concern to our authorities. And Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy is due to meet his Sudanese counterpart during UN week in New York.
Q - Is military intervention conceivable?
I told you how matters stand. For the time being we’re looking at the possible extension of the AMIS mission and at the same time a need to have UN troops present fairly quickly.
Q - Yesterday at the UN the secretary-general presented his report on the implementation of SCR 1701. Do you have any comment? Are you satisfied or not? (…)
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented yesterday the report he’d prepared and communicated to member states a few days earlier. May I remind you the report is pursuant to SCR 1701, as you said. We’ve read the report. There will also be several opportunities this week to go back to it and discuss it with all our partners.
We consider the report opens up a number of rather interesting leads towards a sustainable cease-fire and a long-term settlement provided for in SCR 1701, which we’ve wanted, you’ll remember, from the start of the negotiations on a solution. We note in particular the proposals mentioned by the secretary-general on the security arrangements to be defined between Lebanon and Israel, and on the delimitation of the borders between Lebanon and its neighbors.
With regard to Shebaa farms specifically, the secretary-general notes that the area should be defined precisely and says a working group is to be set up to try to move forward on this. The secretary-general also invites all the parties to translate into action the promises they gave him during his tour of the region. He recalls the various contacts he had, and that goes for Syria and Iran particularly, which undertook, according to him, to implement SCR 1701.
Among the other aspects we welcome, like the secretary-general, the lifting of the Israeli blockade and we insist on the need for everyone to comply strictly with the arms embargo.
(…)
Q - … [The French chief of the armed forces] said something very interesting, that the resolution doesn’t include an air exclusion zone for Israeli aircraft. Can you explain this a bit more? (…)
As regards the air, (…) SCR 1701 does not mention any particular aspect other than the general reference, as you said, to Lebanon’s territorial integrity. It is in that framework that we are paying extremely close attention to compliance with territorial integrity, and as you’ve seen General Pellegrini, the UNIFIL commander, has reported repeated violations of Lebanese air space. That statement, for us, is rather disturbing and invites us to recall the obligation incumbent on all states to respect Lebanon’s territorial sovereignty and the blue line, in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions, particularly SCR 1701. So we’d like to hope that the prospect of the swift completion of the Israeli army withdrawal from southern Lebanon along with the parallel deployment of the Lebanese army and UNIFIL will lead to respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity at last.
Q - Do you have any comment about Israel’s shift and the blue line?
I’ve just answered you. We are, I believe, attentive to any possible violations of both airspace and the blue line which appear to us to be in contradiction with SCR 1701./.
Embassy of France, September 19, 2006