…Pakistan
- Press briefing given by Foreign Ministry spokesperson, November 12, 2007
Q: President Musharraf announced he would hold legislative elections before January 9 while maintaining the state of emergency, and the Pakistani authorities intended to bar a “long march” planned by Benazir Bhutto to protest the continued emergency rule in Pakistan. What’s your reaction?
We are following the development of the political situation in Pakistan with the utmost attention and in close liaison with our European Union partners.
We call for the state of emergency to be lifted, the constitution re-established and those arrested released. We recall the importance we attach to respect for the rule of law and public freedoms.
In this context the announcement of legislative elections before January 9 is a positive element. These will have to take place in a transparent and democratic way.
- Press briefing given by Foreign Ministry spokesperson, November 15, 2007
Q: The UN’s Pakistani representative for human rights, Ms Jilani, said yesterday she was received by the minister. Can you confirm this and tell us about the meeting?
Hina Jilani, the UN secretary-general’s special representative for human-rights defenders and co-founder of the Pakistani human rights commission, was received at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs yesterday. She saw the minister at that time.
The meeting was an opportunity to express our deep concern at the current situation in Pakistan, in particular the human rights violations, and to emphasize the importance that France gives to human rights defenders’ freedom of action and movement.
France is closely following Ms Jilani’s situation and that of her sister, Ms Jahandir, UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, who is under house arrest in Lahore at this time. She calls on the Pakistani authorities to respect the immunity they enjoy through their UN duties.
We call on the Pakistani authorities to release all political prisoners, including the members of the judiciary.
…Iran/Nuclear issue
Press briefing given by Foreign Ministry spokesperson, November 16, 2007
France has taken note of the IAEA director-general’s report. We thank him and his teams for the efforts they are making to clarify the gray areas of Iran’s nuclear program. We encourage the Agency to continue them in order to shed full light on Iran’s past and present nuclear activities.
The report shows that Iran, under the pressure of the international community, has provided new elements in response to IAEA questions (for example on the so-called P-1 and P-2 programs) but these are only partial responses. Considerable uncertainty persists and even increases with respect to the existence of a new generation of hitherto unknown centrifuges to which the IAEA did not have access.
As the six ministers of the E3+3 recalled on September 28 in New York, it is essential for Iran to comply with the international community’s demands formulated by the IAEA board of governors and the United Nations Security Council. This requires Iran:
- to respond clearly, fully and precisely to questions regarding its past and present activities and, as Mr. ElBaradei notes, for its cooperation to be pro-active rather than re-active;
- to suspend its sensitive nuclear activities which, as the IAEA director-general notes, are continuing in violation of Security Council decisions. This would at last reassure the international community and create a positive context that would allow a start to the negotiations that we seek;
- to implement the additional protocol and the other transparency measures demanded by the IAEA without which the Agency cannot confirm the absence of undeclared nuclear material and facilities in Iran. The director-general reiterated this with insistence in his report. He also emphasized that the Agency’s knowledge of Iran’s nuclear program was diminishing as Iran had ceased to convey certain types of information since the start of 2006.
Our preference, as we keep on repeating, is for dialogue and negotiation to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue. That is why the Six had encouraged Javier Solana, at their meeting on September 28, to pursue his dialogue with the Iranian leaders in order to encourage Iran to meet the Security Council’s demands and resume negotiations. We are waiting for the report that Mr. Solana is to hand over to us soon on the results of his talks.
We recall that the E3+3 foreign ministers decided when they met in New York that a third sanctions resolution would be put to the vote in the UN Security Council if the two reports, M ElBaradei’s and Mr. Solana’s, did not note positive results from their efforts. May I remind you finally that on October 15 the Council of the European Union launched a study of additional measures that could be adopted in the European framework.
…Minister’s visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories
Press briefing given by Foreign Ministry spokesperson, November 16, 2007
Foreign and European Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner will go to Israel and the Palestinian Territories on Saturday and Sunday, November 17 and 18. This will be his second trip since being appointed to the cabinet. Two upcoming events will dominate all his meetings during the visit: the meeting in Annapolis at the end of November and the donors’ conference in Paris in December.
The purpose of the visit is to encourage the parties to move forward so that substantive progress can be achieved in Annapolis towards reviving final-status talks. The minister will reaffirm to everyone France’s total commitment in this matter. In Israel Bernard Kouchner will have meetings with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, with his counterpart, Tzipi Livni, and the principal Israeli leaders: Vice Premier Haim Ramon, and Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. In the Palestinian Territories he will be received by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and by members of the government. There will be a meeting with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and with Quartet Special Envoy Tony Blair.
…Lebanon
Press briefing given by Foreign Ministry spokesperson, November 15, 2007
Q: The Lebanese press has announced that Mr. Cousseran left Lebanon for Paris. Can you confirm this announcement?
Mr. Cousseran, who had accompanied the minister on his trip to Lebanon and stayed on in Beirut, has just returned to Paris.
Q: Do you have any comment on the appointment of Mr. Bellemare to replace Mr. Brammertz at the head of the probe into Mr. Hariri’s assassination?
We welcome the appointment by the UN secretary-general of Daniel Bellemare to head the international commission of inquiry for Lebanon, replacing Serge Brammertz. We’ve also taken note of the secretary-general’s intention to appoint Mr. Bellemare to the duties of Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal. These two positions will enable the Canadian judge to ensure the transition from the commission of inquiry to the tribunal with continuity.
Mr. Bellemare, with whom we’ve worked closely in the context of French-Canadian judicial cooperation, is known for his highest professionalism. The task he will have to accomplish is difficult but indispensable to getting to the bottom of the attack on Rafik Hariri and seeing to it that those responsible are brought to justice.
Like Mr. Brammertz before him, Mr. Bellemare can count on France’s full support in his mission.
The UN secretary-general’s intention to also appoint Mr. Bellemare as the future prosecutor of the special tribunal shows again his determination to take all the necessary measures for the effective establishment of this court, as demanded in resolution 1757. We encourage the secretary-general to pursue this path.
We also hail the work by Mr. Brammertz at the head of the commission of inquiry.
…Chad
Press briefing given by Foreign Ministry spokesperson, November 13, 2007
Q: What’s happening about the deployment of European forces in Chad?
I can brief you on the most recent meeting. It was held at the end of last week and showed that the troop generation process, which is the technical term used, is going well since at this point over a dozen countries, including France, have indicated their willingness to take part in this operation--I leave it to these countries to give you more specific details after the next troop generation meeting.
As regards France, we’ve said we’ll provide a battalion formed of three companies and support units. The European Union should have adequate capacities to launch the operation between now and the end of the year. We would like to salute the efforts of countries like Ireland which is commanding the operation—I told you that General Nash came to Paris a few days ago—and Poland, which are making a significant contribution in troops and which will have important responsibilities in the field. It’s very good news for defense Europe and for its capacity to act autonomously in crises. I propose to wait until the conference on November 14 before filling in the remaining gaps, specifically with respect to medical equipment and transport capacity.
Q: In Paris General Nash had mentioned 4,300 men, right?
Yes.
Q: So it’s on that order?
Yes. I understand that we’re operating on that hypothesis, knowing full well that there will be increase in strength once we start setting up the force. The figures remain those we’re working with.
Q: The deployment is still due to start before the end of November?
We’d said before the end of the year. We hope it’ll be before the end of November, after the last conference on force commitments in mid-November.
Q: Where are the meetings being held?
In Brussels. This is a European operation which comes under the CFSP.
…Somalia
Joint communique from Foreign and European Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner and Defense Minister Herve Morin (November 16, 2007)
As President Sarkozy had announced to the Security Council on September 25, France has set up an operation to secure the delivery of food aid to Somalia. The operation, which starts today, is being carried out by the Navy aviso Commandant Ducuing which sails early this afternoon from Mombassa to protect two ships chartered by the World Food Program taking humanitarian aid to Somalia.
We welcome the launch of this operation in response to the joint appeal issued by the WFP and International Maritime Organization on July 10 this year. The humanitarian situation in Somalia is extremely serious and has been constantly deteriorating since the beginning of 2007. Over 1.5 million Somalis today depend on humanitarian aid, 80% of which is delivered by sea from Kenya. Conscious of the dangers for ships delivering humanitarian aid resulting from the upsurge of piracy in Somalia, France wanted to give practical aid to the Somali people. For a period of two months our naval vessel will protect the WFP ships delivering the aid as they sail between Mombassa and Somalia, in both directions. A detachment of naval commandos will provide additional support for this military protection operation to ensure the security of the deliveries. In an uncertain and troubled Somali political context, France hopes that this initiative will be continued by other States and draw the international community's attention to the seriousness of the humanitarian situation in Somalia. To facilitate the future participation of other states, we are ready to share the experience gained in planning and conducting this operation.
…Democratic Republic of the Congo
Press briefing given by Foreign Ministry spokesperson, November 14, 2007
Q: There seems to be no prospect of a solution shaping up with regard to the situation in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is continuing to deteriorate on the humanitarian level. Can we expect a French initiative to unblock the situation in liaison with the African Union, the European Union and/or the United Nations?
An agreement was signed in Nairobi on November 9 between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda on disarming and demobilizing the armed groups operating in the eastern part of the DRC. We remain very concerned about the humanitarian situation in North Kivu, and we are encouraging the Congolese and Rwandan governments to do everything possible to carry out the commitments they made in Nairobi. France fully supports the action of MONUC (United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and the humanitarian actors in the field. It is determined to pursue its commitment to assist the efforts of the Congolese and Rwandan governments.
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