Today's Date:

Fighting terrorism/HIV/AIDS/Iraq/Middle East

Press conference given by Philippe Douste-Blazy, Minister of Foreign Affairs, (excerpts)

Paris, July 26, 2005

THE MINISTER – (...) I'd like to begin by saying that I'm thinking especially of the victims of terrorism who, in London, Sharm el Sheikh and Baghdad and other places, have been cowardly and despicably killed, regardless of the pretext invoked.

I want to express again to their families and loved-ones our deep sympathy and our solidarity in the ordeals they are going through. I want to assure our nationals that France's representatives in every country in the world are permanently ready to provide them with relief, help and any essential information regarding their security.

Since 11 September 2001, we have been engaged in an unequivocal battle against terror, hatred and inhumanity. Today, with the London and Sharm el Sheikh bombings and growing instability in Iraq, terrorism seems to have reached a new level, marked by increasingly harsh and frequent attacks. The goal clearly seems to be to create a growing climate of terror within our democracies.

We absolutely must refuse to go along with the ultimatums of hatred, absurdity and despicability. Faced with this barbarity, we must act on two fronts: unrelentingly fight every form of terrorism, but at the same time ensure we safeguard what's at the very basis of our democracies: i.e. dialogue and respect for the Other. I know of no religion, no god who tolerates or advocates the death of innocent children or innocent adults.

Every day the world is increasingly revealing its fragility. We are experiencing simultaneously two developments: the first one, proliferating threats – look at the past few weeks: Iraq, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Turkey, Egypt and London – and, at the same time, in a second one, which is a historic opportunity, we're seeing the international community rebuild its unity on collective responsibility and global democracy, since there has to be global democracy. It is our duty to act and innovate, the democracies don't have the right to lose this battle.

I have just attended a meeting on internal security chaired by President Chirac at which we discussed these matters and the solutions our own country can take, tomorrow, to deal with this type of bombing or despicable terrorist attack, with, of course, the imperative of respecting freedoms (...).

Fighting terrorism is a very long-term task and we must never get discouraged, regardless what it costs. We must be uncompromising in the face of those denying individual freedom, respect for the Other and the primacy of the law, i.e. the very values underpinning our democratic systems.

More than ever, cooperation between democracies must be the keyword for our action. It must develop not just at national level, but especially at international – bilateral, European and multilateral – level.

At bilateral level, this means joint investigation teams, and biometric visas and passports. On this last point, as I've already said, the new biometric visa system will be progressively installed in our consulates and brought in everywhere by 2007/2008. When people to whom we've granted three-month short-stay visas have entered France, we must be able to know, because we have their index fingerprints and photos of their irises, whether they have left the country or are still here. Today it's important to harmonize this type of biometric visa at European level.

At European level, there must be cooperation through appraisals of national measures by other member States, because if one of the 25 countries doesn't make the requisite effort, then it will be a hole, another place where a terrorist can go. We have also established the European arrest warrant.

At multilateral level, there are all the current efforts both to combat more effectively the sources of terrorist finance and train the police and crisis-management units in partner countries.

This year, the Foreign Ministry has financed 300 operations of this type in 100 or so countries.

Fighting terrorism also includes preventing the risk of a growing gap between cultures, which entails a twin approach.

Firstly, maintaining the dialogue between religions and cultures: no god will ever justify the deaths of innocent children or adults, like those we have seen in the recent bombings. So we need to establish an honest dialogue with the voices and authorities of all the world's religions so that we can show that our democracies aren't impervious to change, that they are tolerant vis-ΰ-vis all cultures, all schools of thought and religions. On the contrary, they are the essential modern tool for ensuring respect for peoples and individuals.

Secondly, we must be capable of attacking the scourges terrorism feeds on, i.e. poverty, disease and the crises and violence still affecting too many parts of our world. This means that development assistance, the fight against AIDS and the diplomatic efforts to resolve regional crises are also, in their way, a means of eliminating some of the breeding-grounds in which terrorist acts are fomented.

I believe there's something new in today's world: the world is sharing its crises. Take the future crises, those of the twenty-first century: obviously terrorism, the root causes of which are problems of natural resources and cultural issues, water shortages, pandemics and education. Today the world is sharing its crises. In this ministry, we must understand the world better so that we prepare ourselves better and so cope more effectively with these crises we share.

Faced with the crises currently affecting the world, whether long-standing ones like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or more recent ones like Iraq, Cτte d'Ivoire and Haiti, France always sticks to promoting simple but inviolable principles: respect for the law; the constant quest for collective responsibility, through the United Nations and the major regional organizations; and the desire for dialogue and respect for the Other.

In this respect, we have often talked about the multipolar world and I think the term accurately reflects the contemporary reality where we're seeing the emergence of new regional powers, such as South Africa, Brazil, India and China, who rightly intend playing a global role. We must not contest this development, but on the contrary organize it so as to establish a genuine global democracy, underpinned by the rules of law accepted by everyone and capable of ensuring peace and stability. This, France's vision of the world will materialize only if there's equality between nations and everyone has a sense of responsibility. It doesn't seek supremacy for the benefit of a few, but is the tireless quest for an international system founded on the spirit of responsibility, shared by everyone.

(...)

The day after tomorrow I'm going to Darfur and Niger. One of the objectives of this visit is to signal resolutely France's commitment to development aid.

You all know the active efforts our country and especially President Chirac are making in this area: the aim is to attack the major scourges affecting the southern countries: poverty, disease – I'm thinking of tuberculosis which is coming back, HIV/AIDS and malaria – and ecological imbalances such as drought. At the same time, our country is arguing for an increase in international financial aid for the South through new methods of financing it.

Here, France has set the example, since French official development aid will be over 0.46% of GNP in 2006 and reach the scheduled target of 0.5% in 2007.

In this context, I personally intend taking immediate action in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Accordingly, I have had meetings with all the major American and European pharmaceutical laboratories. During my recent visit to the United States, I met the Americans heading the Bush Administration's programme and President Clinton – we want to work with him on encouraging access for the poorest patients to medicines and particularly to the tritherapies used to treat AIDS.

(...)

Mr Sharon's visit. You ask for complete observance of the Roadmap and its full implementation. But in this respect Mr Sharon has, after all, a mixed reputation, with the wall and the settlements around Jerusalem, as well as in other spheres. Tomorrow, are you going to deliver a clear enough message on this tomorrow?

THE MINISTER – To begin with the first subject, no country is safe from terrorist acts. None. In 1995, France, was, you will remember – it was before Iraq – hit by dreadful, heinous terrorist attacks.

Secondly, since in your question – even if it's not what you think – you draw a parallel between Iraq and possible terrorist attacks, we didn't go militarily into Iraq because President Chirac clearly said that France will always be on the side of international law which has to be decreed by the international community and so by the United Nations. As we don't think that unilateralism is a way of responding to crises, he chose not to go into Iraq militarily. That, let me tell you, has absolutely nothing to do with our fierce determination to fight terrorism. And moreover, during my recent visit to the United States, the "Washington Post" published a headline article saying that France was one of the perhaps two or three countries in the world which contribute the most to the fight against terrorism, particularly through the intelligence services. I can tell you that our determination is total, unshakeable.

You asked a second question concerning Mr Sharon's visit. I believe it's important to say that there has to be the prospect of a subsequent relaunch of the process and that this is today threatened by extremist action. In particular, I want very firmly to condemn the Netanya terrorist attack and shelling in southern Israel, which are counter-productive for the Palestinians, and in fact the Palestinian authorities have also condemned it. I had a meeting here with the Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister who condemned it.

These attacks can only reinforce today's lack of confidence in the process. In the short and medium term, the different players' political survival depends on the security issue. So it's necessary to get across a strong message on this. This message will be all the stronger if the European Union overwhelmingly commits itself to supporting the plan of Mr Wolfensohn, whom I met recently in London. These efforts have already improved the dialogue between the Israelis and Palestinians on the arrangements for the withdrawal, whose complexity is certainly exaggerated. Mr Wolfensohn's mission is designed to create the economic conditions for a viable Palestinian State in Gaza and the West Bank. The Israelis understand that this is in their interest. It's also in the United States' interest to let the European Union be involved in and contribute to the process.

Finally, we are all convinced that once Gaza's evacuation has been completed (...) the effort will have to be pursued in the West Bank. We shall have to keep a watchful eye on this. The withdrawal from Gaza must not distract us from the difficulties posed by the pursuit of some current developments which aren't positive. I'm thinking in particular of the building of new settlements in the West Bank.

(...)

As regards UNSCR 1559 and relations between Syria and Lebanon: Lebanon like every country, must be sovereign. No foreign country must interfere in Lebanon's affairs, Lebanon's domestic political affairs. Not Syria nor any others. This is why we want there to be absolute compliance with UNSCR 1559, for us this is very important. And in particular – to be very specific and to answer your question – I'd say there's no reason today for any lorries being held up at the Syrian/Lebanese border, for any screening to find out what goes and what doesn't go into Lebanon. For me this is very important. (...)./.