Today's Date:

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LIBYA/UTA PLANE BOMBING

THE MINISTER – The basis of an agreement has been found, it still has to be definitively finalized. This is going to be done in the next few hours and it’s what we’re hoping for. Let me remind you that the negotiation is taking place between the victims’ families and those acting for them on the French side, and the Gadhafi foundation on the other. France, the French government, President Chirac, who, as you reminded us, has spoken twice to Colonel Gadhafi – I myself have also talked to my Libyan counterpart several times – have just supported these demands. It concerns a principle of fairness, so we hope that, in the next few hours, things can be definitively settled.

THE MINISTER – Everyone on the UTA flight, i.e. the 170 passengers, the majority of whom, as you know, were African.
There were also American, British, Italian and of course French victims. But we wanted to include all the victims to apply the principle of fair treatment compared with that given to the Lockerbie bombing.

THE MINISTER – We’ve always said this, we support the principle of lifting the sanctions and, of course, we shall very swiftly take the consequent action. As regards the lifting of the sanctions, you know that we’ve been able to get the decision delayed, thanks to the understanding of our British and American friends with whom I’ve been in touch several times and, consequently, the process will naturally follow its course.

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IRAQ

– We’ve got a lot of questions on Iraq.

First, a listener who writes to us from Canada:

A listener in the United States:

THE MINISTER – We’re up against an extraordinarily difficult situation in Iraq, with a risk of the country breaking up (...).
Where’s the real answer?. We firmly believe that political considerations must today take precedence over the current policy of occupation designed to achieve law and order. The process must be reversed if we want to stand a chance of starting to reduce the violence.

THE MINISTER – In the first place it requires, and we’ve said this loud and clear – President Chirac reiterated it at the Ambassadors’ Conference in Paris –, restoration of Iraqi sovereignty. The Iraqis must take back control of their own affairs, their own future. If we’re unable to recreate Iraqi unity – and there are clearly divisions between the different communities – we won’t have the essential support to get things moving again.

THE MINISTER – It must be understood that so long as we haven’t got an Iraqi government genuinely capable of stating what it wants and taking its own decisions, we shall be up against a groundswell of opposition, resistance to a foreign presence, with all that means in terms of violence, resentment and frustrations. So this approach must be changed.

In the wake of the war, we found ourselves in a vacuum. The situation in Iraq changed overnight and we welcomed the end of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship. But we also find ourselves in a situation where we must therefore very quickly rebuild, and so long as the Iraqis themselves are not at the tiller, we can’t make headway.

THE MINISTER – The key is the support of the Iraqis themselves. In the process we want to initiate, there is, of course, the mobilization of all the communities, all the representatives. At the moment, we have an interim governing council bringing together the main Iraqi leaders. We must increase this council's legitimacy, we must move towards a provisional government capable of representing, being even more representative of all these communities, of really taking things in hand. That means there have to be elections and a constituent assembly. You know it's a matter of priority. If we go on wanting to plug the gaps, patch up a security system which every day breeds more opposition, we shall be on the defensive, with our backs to the wall and, regardless of the number of soldiers we send over there, we shall be caught by the tide of events, have to fight the violence. So, clearly as a starting point, we have to view the political side of things, the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty as the cornerstone of the reconstruction in Iraq.

THE MINISTER – It's possible with all those willing to contribute, in this instance the US forces, the coalition forces who are there in the wake of the war and, let me remind you that, under international law, this is their responsibility. They are responsible for security as the force present on the ground, all this has to be done as part of the same process with growing United Nations support. As we have always said, the UN must have a central role, be part of this process, which the whole international community must support.

In particular, the regional community: how can one keep that regional community on the sidelines when Iraq is an essential factor in ensuring the Middle East's stability?

THE MINISTER – It's progress compared with the current situation. What's important for France is the affirmation of Iraqi sovereignty and genuine affirmation of the commitment of the United Nations which has to play the central role.

Once there's a UN mandate, once that mandate is clarified, the roadmap of any multinational force working in Iraq will be clear. When this happens, France considers that things should very rapidly improve.

THE MINISTER. – Of course, I believe that that would be the consequence of this process, this political change which has to take place in Iraq, this shock treatment which has to reverse the process, and the formation of this Iraqi government will result in, bring in its wake a heightened commitment on the part of the international community through the United Nations.

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THE MINISTER – I don't think one can really envisage the UN leaving, but I can understand the question being asked because the UN has been severely jolted. Clearly, it’s the UN's responsibility to stay there, but to do so in a framework which maximizes the chances of success in Iraq. And the question France is pondering and asking the international community is this: should one patch up a system which quite obviously isn't working or take the time, have the courage to change the method, with the constant aim of being more effective and laying down the foundations, the conditions for a new approach in Iraq?

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THE MINISTER – When it comes to organizing the reconstruction, the United Nations must really be at the heart of the process. In today's world we see that, with the development of cultural and religious identities, legitimacy is a key factor. We must strengthen the legitimacy of the international action in Iraq and this requires it respecting Iraqi legitimacy, respecting Iraqi sovereignty, it's a matter of principle.

In today's world, people sometimes want to demonstrate excessive pragmatism in some situations. The importance of these deep-seated influences at the heart of our societies, these cultural, religious influences mustn't be underestimated – they are a feature of our times. Let's be clear-sighted, look at what is actually happening in Iraq, we can't want what's best for Iraq and at the same time act against the wishes of the Iraqis. We're seeing a daily mobilization of forces against this presence, we have to try to involve the Iraqi people in the reconstruction, get them on board and try to forestall the attempts of those who, on the contrary, want to conspire against this international order – I'm thinking of terrorism, of the fundamentalist forces. Let's be clear about precisely what needs to be done here, let's change the way things are being done inside Iraq in order to mobilize all the communities to work for Iraq's new destiny.

UN SECURITY COUNCIL

THE MINISTER – You know that France is in the vanguard when it comes to United Nations reform and in my speech to the French ambassadors meeting in Paris I made numerous proposals to modify this structure. It's an absolute necessity. The more the world suffers from crises, the more it's confronted with difficulties, the more we need a world democracy.

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THE MINISTER – Let's separate the two things, separate the permanent members issue from the veto problem – it's perfectly possible to think about changes to the right to use the veto, there are a number of conditions which could be incorporated – since the aim is to have the system which best represents the world community so that it can be involved to a large extent in the resolution of problems which concern everyone. (...)

THE MINISTER – Let's be practical. As regards Europe, today, we're thinking more about opening the Council to Germany rather than having a permanent member seat for the EU. Why? Because I believe things haven't evolved enough, as we've seen on the foreign policy front, Europe still has a lot to do to organize itself in the foreign policy sphere and if we take the British and French positions in the Security Council, we can say that, basically, they fairly accurately reflect European feelings. I believe it's absolutely necessary for there to be a German seat in the Council, so we're backing her becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

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MIDDLE EAST

THE MINISTER – Not at all, the European Union’s position is perfectly clear: to maintain relations with everyone, including of course Yasser Arafat. I think the developments of the past few months confirm the validity of this European attitude, and the Americans themselves have sent messages to Mr Arafat showing the weight he continues, still today, to carry within the Palestinian family. The aim is to bring peace closer, try and take things forward thanks to the commitment of everyone involved. That means we need the Palestinians to be united and that’s what we’re pressing for.

THE MINISTER – All the Europeans are going to be meeting in Italy in a few days’ time and we're of course going to talk again about the possible initiatives to get things moving again in the Middle East.

The international conference seems to me an event of a scale capable of mobilizing the whole international community. We welcomed the American re-engagement, particularly with the Aqaba summit, but we need to go further. It's a problem which concerns the whole international community.

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HAMAS

THE MINISTER – France is continually learning the lessons of the terrorism in the Middle East, repeatedly taking initiatives to get additions made to the European list of terrorist organizations. The question of Hamas is on the agenda. (...)

It will be a European decision. (...) It's a subject we are going to tackle between Europeans. France refuses to make any allowances whatsoever when it comes to terrorist organizations. So we are going to take a very detailed look at this matter. We have launched a number of investigations in all our countries to see what links might exist between the associations linked to that organization, precisely to check the validity of a number of accusations which have been made and we shall, all together, take the necessary decision.

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RWANDA/DEATH OF TWO FRENCH SOLDIERS IN COTE D'IVOIRE

THE MINISTER – You know that, politically, throughout the past few years, fact-finding missions have been conducted by Parliament, by a whole series of commissions in order to shed light on this affair. There's one point I can personally tell you about because I was involved: I was Alain Juppé's principal private secretary. I can tell you (...) that France acted in Rwanda at the international community’s request with the humanitarian concern to put an end to those massacres. The whole international community applauded France's action. Subsequently, people mixed things up, mixed France's action there with the policy which had been conducted in the preceding years and indicted President Mitterrand's policy. I can tell you that the French intervention was motivated solely by humanitarian imperatives, the concern to relieve the suffering. I think this is something we have to remember because the sole aim of France's policy today, her desire to be present in Africa, present alongside the African States, the African peoples, is to try to bring solutions. (...) I don't accept people impugning France's intentions today in Africa because I can tell you that the price we are paying daily is the price of the human commitment, of soldiers – I want to pay tribute to the death of the two French soldiers in Côte d'Ivoire – the price of the commitment of our communities working in the African countries, the price of France's commitment to cooperation to benefit Africa. No other country is as committed to the African countries. This active effort has to be recognized. I am, always, wholly prepared to criticize what I do and I think it's a good thing to try to do better. But when it comes to the intentions, France's attitude today in Africa, believe me we have divested ourselves, got rid of (...) everything which could possibly be open to criticism. Our prime concern is genuinely to demonstrate France's solidarity, respect and affection for Africa.

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SEPTEMBER 11

THE MINISTER – I believe that the threat has increased and we can see this from all the attacks which are tragically punctuating the international news. I come back to this very potent idea, to which France very strongly subscribes: behind terrorism there is a very deep trap, a spiral development which has been initiated. This is the risk of a failure to understand the identity, cultural and religious problems. If we fail to recognize the reality of the world’s concern for cultural, ethnic and religious identity, we are going to "declare a war" against terrorism which can but breed increasing resistance, resentment, humiliation. So we must constantly seek dialogue with all the cultures – I'm thinking in particular of the Islamic world – and make sure that that confrontation doesn't take place, that this terrorism is definitely reduced to what it essentially is, i.e. a desire for destruction, for chaos. Let's clearly identify these forces, avoid them getting tangled up in far broader issues if we want to avoid this spiral.

The other element, and this is the other thing France is convinced of, is that any international canker, crisis, war, can only increase these difficulties. We’re seeing this in Iraq. There was no link between terrorism, between al-Qaida and Iraq, all the international intelligence services said so. Today Iraq has become one of the breeding grounds for terrorism. I believe we must beware the ever-increasing number of open crises – as we’re seeing in Afghanistan, Pakistan, in all the regional crises and particularly, obviously, in Iraq. (...)./.