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Daily Press Briefing Statements made by [Please note that only the original French text issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be considered official.]
TASK FORCE
As the minister announced at his press briefing last week, the Quai d’Orsay is holding a meeting today of a task force attended by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Ministry for Agriculture and Fisheries, the Ministry for the Economy Finance and Employment, and the Ministry for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Regional Development. The goal is to prepare the proposals that France will present to address the increase in food prices around the world. As you will remember, Bernard Kouchner was interviewed at length on this and all the multilateral institutions are thinking about it today, in Brussels and Washington.
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MAJOR ECONOMIES MEETING ON ENERGY AND CLIMATE
The third Major Economies Meeting on Energy and Climate Change (MEM), which will be held in Paris on April 17 and 18, will be chaired by European Affairs Secretary Jean-Pierre Jouyet. Brice Lalonde, Ambassador for climate change negotiations, will represent France.
The MEM is a forum for political discussion grouping 16 countries accounting for 80% of world carbon dioxide emissions. Its mission is to advance the talks on climate change.
This meeting is specifically to prepare for the December 2009 Copenhagen conference which will be preceded by the Poznan conference in December.
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Q - Do you have any comment on the elections in Italy?
We have close ties of friendship and cooperation with Italy. The country is an essential partner for us and we will need its support on all the major European issues that will be on the agenda of the French presidency of the European Council.
Q - I’d like details about tomorrow’s arrival in Paris of the six Somali pirates who were captured. Do you have confirmation that the agreement of the Somali authorities was obtained for their extradition?
No, we have no confirmation. As you know, France is doing everything possible to put the pirates on trial in France, and to this end we're conferring with the president of Somalia. The conditions for their transfer are being worked out. I’d like to remind you in this regard that we’ve acted in close consultation with President Yusuf throughout the crisis.
He gave his full agreement for our forces to intervene to arrest the pirates. We also informed the Somali authorities that we would like to try them in France. Discussions are going on with the Somali authorities.
Q - Since you say the conditions for their transfer are being discussed, does that mean you have an agreement in principle?
I can only say that discussions with the Somali authorities are continuing.
Q - What are the legal bases for France’s request for the transfer? Where was the vessel when it was arrested? In Somali territorial waters or outside?
There was full agreement from the Somali authorities, as I’ve just said, for us to continue and intercept the pirates. The six pirates arrested by French forces on April 11 are currently on a French Navy ship that is en route for France, and we’re in talks with the Somali authorities to work out in what conditions they can be tried. For details of the legal procedure, I refer you to the Justice Ministry; you heard as we did this morning that the public prosecutor in Paris has opened a preliminary inquiry.
Q - Are they still on the Jean Bart?
I believe so. I don’t know whether they’ve changed ships, but they’re on the way to France.
Q - Do you have any comment on the sentencing of the young Franco-Palestinian man to seven years in prison by a court in Jerusalem?
I think you are speaking of Mr. Hammouri. You know that whenever the minister had contacts with the Israeli authorities, he brought up this case, and we did get them to agree to hand down sentence in principle before the end of the week.
Q - But he’s already been sentenced.
The sentencing is to take place on April 17 to my knowledge.
Q - Is there an agreement between France and Israel?
I’ll have to check if there’s a legal cooperation agreement between France and Israel.
Q - (…)Do you support President Jimmy Carter’s demarche and if so do you have any comment on Israel’s refusal to let him go to Gaza?
I’m not going to comment on Mr. Carter’s trip which he’s making in a personal capacity. Our position with regard to Hamas is known to you. Hamas is on the list of terrorist organizations. Conditions have been set for establishing a dialogue with it. And above all, as the minister has said, dialogue with Hamas is a decision for the Palestinian authorities. It is up to them to judge at what point such dialogue can take place.
Q - You’re speaking of President Abbas?
I’m speaking of the president of the Palestinian Authority, of course.
Q - Will you launch some initiative during the French presidency of the EU to persuade the Europeans to open to Hamas?
The French presidency starts on July 1, 2008. We still have a bit of time till then. We’ll see what’s to be done in consultation with our European partners.
Q - Do you have any comment on the economic and social situation in Gaza? How long are you going to let the situation deteriorate this way? There are even ecological disasters there now.
We know all this and we’re doing all we can to end this situation. As President Sarkozy said at the Paris Conference, and the minister, the peace process concerns Gaza as well. Gaza will also be part of the solution.
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Q - France will take part in the meeting of Iraq’s neighbors. I would like to know if you have any comments. Have you decided on any concrete measures? There is information indicating that France is preparing a ministerial conference on the sidelines of this meeting. What will the framework of this meeting really be?
The meeting of Iraq’s neighbors will be held on April 22. At that time, there will be contacts with all of the countries in attendance. We are thinking in particular about what can be done about Lebanon. It is one of our contacts and one of our discussion topics. I can’t give you any further details today.
Q - So you can confirm that this conference is being held?
For now, there are contacts, and we are preparing for the meeting of April 22. There are contacts at this time with all the countries concerned by what is happening in Lebanon.
Q - Does that mean you are abandoning the initiative you always supported?
No. We remain attached to the plan proposed by the Arab League, but obviously, the April 22 meeting will provide an opportunity to talk about it with all the interested parties.
Q - Yesterday your ambassador to Egypt, Philippe Coste, spoke of a new situation in Lebanon with old ideas that need to be renewed. What are those old ideas and how will they be renewed?
I’m not aware of those statements but I think that as a general rule, it is always interesting to examine new ideas.
Q - Given what was published about the statements made by Mr. Kouchner and Nabih Berri and their exchanges, have they recently been in touch?
Yes, they called each other last week and reiterated their strong attachment to the continuation of their talks. Obviously, if Nabih Berri comes to Paris, they will see each other.
Q - In the war of words between the Israelis and the Iranians, the Iranian deputy chief of staff threatened to wipe Israel off the map if Iran were attacked. Do you have any comment?
Like Iran, Israel is a member of the UN, and it is unacceptable to make such remarks about a country that is a member of the international community.
Q - And if Israel threatens to do the same thing?
It’s the same thing. We cannot stand for members of the international community seeing their existence being threatened by others.
“[…] We are calling for dialogue, and as the President said, we will see what happens between now and the opening of the Olympic Games.
With respect to badges, it isn’t our place to intervene in internal discussions taking place in the athletic world, but I would just like to remind you that for us, the Olympics are an athletic event, and it should be a time of openness and tolerance.”
[…]
Q - Do you have a statement concerning the date of the announced elections? Most of all, will they have consequences for France? Will they pave the way for a visit by the foreign minister to Côte d’Ivoire? Is there any particular aid available to finance that election? In short, are there measures being envisioned to support this step forward?
Yesterday’s announcement of the setting of a date for the presidential election is an important step, which we salute as such. We stand alongside Côte d’Ivoire in supporting the full implementation of the Ouagadougou agreement and we encourage all the Ivorian parties to strengthen the current dynamic.
This political support does not come solely from France. It comes from the entire international community. Indeed, on several occasions, the Security Council has marked its determination to support the implementation of the Ouagadougou agreements, particularly through the holding of free, fair and transparent elections.
Naturally, the minister will examine the possibility of a trip to Côte d’Ivoire in due time.
Q - Does that mean that France was not considering a high-level trip before because the situation was so deadlocked? And that now, things could be done more easily?
The announcement of a date for holding elections has just been issued. We welcome that, as I just said, and we will see at what point the minister might visit Côte d’Ivoire, given the constraints of his schedule.
By definition, a foreign minister likes to visit all the countries of the world, and particularly those where there is good news.
Q - There was a meeting between Mr. Sarkozy and the former president, who is a dissident. I know the Elysée issued a communiqué, but are you aware of any new diplomatic plans or projects for organizing an inclusive conference among rebel groups and Mr. Déby?
No, I have nothing to add to the communiqué. As the minister says repeatedly, we support anything that might foster dialogue. Our position hasn’t changed.
Q - Do you have any information about Mr. Saleh’s location?
No. Unfortunately, we still don’t know anything.
The situation in Zimbabwe is extremely troubling. At a time when the opposition has called for a general strike, to continue until the results of the presidential election are published, and the police have banned any public demonstrations, France once again deplores the fact that these results have still not been announced. It has been 17 days since the vote, and we have been told they should be published on April 19. We will see, but they should have been published the day of the vote.
The SADC summit that met in Lusaka on April 12 called once again for the swift publication of the results. The summit was useful because it reiterated the international community’s concerns.
We will be closely following what happens in the coming days. We have two concerns: respect for the verdict of the ballot box and regional stability. The Zimbabwean authorities owe their people the truth./.
Embassy of France, April 15, 2008
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