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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.]
COOPERATION MINISTERS OF G8 COUNTRIES TO MEET (TOKYO, APRIL 5-6)
Alain Joyandet, Secretary of State for Cooperation and Francophony, will attend the meeting of ministers for cooperation of G8 countries in Tokyo on April 5 and 6. He will introduce the discussions on the new partnerships for development.
The meeting is being held in the context of preparations for the summit of heads of state in July. G8 ministers, who have invited their counterpart from the big emerging countries and leaders of international development organizations, will examine progress in developing countries in economic growth and human development, especially with regard to the Millennium Goals, the links between climate change and development, and the need to redefine the partnership for development so as to welcome new actors, emerging countries and foundations.
In view of certain allegations concerning Colonel Bacar’s situation, we want to repeat that France condemned right from the outset Anjouan island’s attempted secession and as of June 2007 it suspended all cooperation with the de facto authorities of this part of the Union of the Comoros.
France provided assistance to the African Union’s military operation on Anjouan, specifically by transporting Tanzanian troops between Dar-es-Salaam and Moroni.
In spite of the presence on Anjouan of sizable Comorian and African military contingents, Mr. Bacar was able to leave in circumstances not clarified at this point and enter Mayotte illegally. He is currently under a restricted residence order in Reunion, and his asylum application is being examined on an emergency basis by the French office for refugees and stateless persons under the rules of law.
INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR MINE ACTION
We celebrate International Day for Mine Awareness and Action Against Mines April 4, the date chosen by the UN in 2005. On this occasion we reaffirm France’s ongoing commitment to tackling this scourge. France was the first permanent member of the UN Security Council to ratify the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines.
Mine Awareness Day coincides this year with a Mine Action Support Group meeting in Paris in which France holds the chair for the first six months of 2008. This is an informal group of donor countries and the European Commission which contribute to international assistance to address the problem of mines.
The meeting of the group in Paris, coming less than a year before the Ottawa Convention’s first deadline for completing de-mining, is an opportunity for donor states, including those who’ve not yet ratified the Ottawa Convention, to have in-depth exchanges of view, in conjunction with the principal international agencies, on action--concerted and coordinated as much as possible-- undertaken with international assistance.
A briefing will be held this Thursday, April 3, at 4:30 p.m. at the Foreign Press Center.
Q - You’re having contacts here in Paris with a number of Lebanese politicians. Can you tell us where matters stand with respect to a settlement of the crisis in Lebanon now that the Arab summit is behind us and no solution has been found?
The Arab countries reiterated at the Arab League summit their support for the initiative they had unanimously adopted in January to help Lebanon resolve its crisis. We reaffirm our hope that Lebanese will very soon have a president on the basis of this initiative.
(…)
Q - Your reaction to the reopening of Ledra Street which symbolizes the partition of Cyprus?
We welcome the opening this morning of the Ledra Street crossing in the center of Nicosia. It was witnessed by the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot negotiators responsible for implementing the declaration whereby the two community leaders agreed on March 21 to resume discussions on a settlement of the Cypriot question.
The opening of this crossing point, achieved after months of UN-brokered preparation, will facilitate contacts between the two communities and symbolizes the hope of Cypriots and the international community in the process now beginning which has France’s full support.
Q - Chad’s President Idriss Deby made changes Wednesday to the commission of inquiry into the clashes on February 2 and 3. Its composition changes a bit, and the international community’s representatives are no longer participating as “observers.” In addition, civil society and the parties still refuse to take part in it. Is France satisfied with this development?
With the European Union, we worked with the Chadians and all our international partners, the International Francophonie Organisation (OIF), African Union and the United Nations on the commission’s composition, goal and method of operating.
We welcome the wish of the Chadian authorities to open to civil society and the opposition this commission which has a mandate covering all the events that occurred in the Republic of Chad in February and their consequences. France does not have a seat on it as such but is there as part of the troika which will represent the European Union in application of decisions by member states.
Several independent international experts are due to be part of it, alongside Chadian experts in the work of the technical committee tasked with supporting the commission of inquiry./.
Embassy of France, April 3, 2008
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