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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.]
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs will celebrate International Women’s Day on March 7 with three events:
A round table discussion will be held at 9 a.m. under the auspices of the Human Resources Department; the theme will be “Female Diplomats: Building Equality.” This event—a first for the Ministry—will provide the opportunity to speak with outside guests about the specific constraints on the careers of female diplomats.
The Ministry will then host a luncheon in honor of those figures whose work on behalf of women worldwide deserves recognition.
Finally, Bernard Kouchner and Rama Yade, Ministry of State in charge of Foreign Affairs and Human Rights, will chair a lecture/debate on “Diplomacy and Women’s Rights” at the Palais des Affaires Etrangères from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
The latter will be open to a wide audience: foreign embassies, UN agencies, NGOs, parliamentarians, academics and the media. It will touch on the Ministry’s parity policy as well as the ways in which women’s rights are taken into account in French foreign policy.
[…]
FRANCE/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
You asked me yesterday about Rama Yade’s conversation with the Palestinian minister about prisoners last Friday. I can tell you that Mr. al-Ajrami described the situation of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and expressed the Palestinian Authority’s concern about this subject.
The minister of state noted that France was calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners and invited Israel to make significant gestures in this area in order to strengthen the Palestinian Authority and the peace process.
Ms. Yade also stressed the importance we attach to Gilad Shalit’s immediate release.
Q - South Ossetia, a pro-Russian, separatist region of Georgia, has asked Russia, the UN and the EU to recognize its independence. What is your reaction?
We are attached to Georgia’s sovereignty and we support the OSCE’s efforts to find a political solution to the South Ossetia conflict.
Q - Do you support Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s call for an “Israeli-Palestinian truce in order to reach peace by the end of this year”?
France calls for a halt to the violence and for a continuation of discussions in order to permit progress to be made on all final-status parameters.
[…]
COLOMBIA/ECUADOR/INGRID BETANCOURT
Q - Was France informed of (or involved in) Ecuador’s negotiations with the FARC that, according to Quito, could have led to the release of 12 hostages, including Ingrid Betancourt, this month?
We know that generally speaking, several countries in the region, including Ecuador, with whom we are in contact, are engaged in finding a humanitarian solution permitting the release of hostages.
Q - Does France condemn the violation of Ecuador’s sovereignty and territorial integrity by Colombia in the attack and elimination of the FARC’s number-two?
France is attached to the respect of nations’ sovereignty in accordance with the principles of international law.
[…]
Q - Human Rights Watch says that on February 11, Bernard Kouchner reported to HRW that President Déby had indicated that the “disappeared” Chadian opposition deputies were being held at the Intelligence Agency in N’djamena. Do you deny that French authorities were informed of the fate of the deputies, as Amnesty International also claims to have evidence of?
Let my specify first of all that during his conversation with Human Rights Watch, the minister only shared the rumors that I referred to and which turned out to be baseless.
As for your question on disappeared persons, I repeat, as I have done several times, that we were not informed of their fate until our ambassador to N’djamena learned on February 14 that Lol Mahamat Choua was in a military prison and on March 2 that Ngarlejy Yorongar had just arrived in Yaounde.
Q - You continue to repeat that there are no French or European initiatives to end the crisis in Lebanon and that you support the Arab League’s initiative, yet Mr. Solana was in Beirut and met with the chief players in that crisis. Was that visit part of a possible European initiative in the event of a dangerous deadlock?
Like our EU partners, we are continuing to support the Arab League plan to end the crisis in Lebanon. As I have told you several times, there are no proposals on the table other than this Arab League plan.
[…]
Q - Is Ambassador Cousseran still in charge of the Lebanese dossier?
He is still the minister’s personal envoy for this dossier./.
Embassy of France, March 5, 2008
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