L'Evénement
FRANCOPHONE SUMMIT
Beirut plays host to the annual Francophone World Summit (Sommet de la Francophonie), a gathering of all the French-speaking nations of the world on October 18 to 20. French President Jacques Chirac has extended a summit invitation to Mohamed Chelali, one of three men credited with disarming a would-be assassin in a July attempt on the president’s life. Chelali, currently a teacher in Beirut, has accepted the invitation.
CHIRAC PAYS HOMAGE TO ZOLA
Marking the 100th anniversary of the death of famous French writer Zola on October 6, President Jacques Chirac spoke of his great achievements. To speak of Zola, “is to speak of France,” said Chirac . Having pledged to combat extremism in all its forms since the elections in April, Chirac presented Zola as epitomizing such ideals, notably the liberty of expression, ensured through the freedom of conscience and the freedom of speech.
JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE
Earlier this month, France welcomed participants of Operation Cooperative Key 2002, a joint exercise between NATO and the nations of the Partnership for Peace (PfP). PfP, created by a NATO initiative in 1994, involves 26 European countries, among them the nations of the former Warsaw Pact and the ex-Soviet bloc states. The two-week exercise, while based on a hypothetical situation, brought together the air forces of 22 nations and involved 1,660 personnel.
THE RELEASE OF PAPON
At the request of Justice Minister Dominique Perben, prosecutors are seeking to overturn the decision of a French court of appeals to release Maurice Papon. Papon is a former Nazi collaborator and one of the highest ranked Vichy officials to be convicted and sentenced for his crimes during World War II. Although he served only three years of a ten-year sentence, Papon was freed on September 18 for health reasons. Both the public and the government alike expressed anger and disappointment at the decision.
E.U. may include 25 nations by 2004
The enlargement process of the European Union took a great leap eastward on October 9, when the E.U. Executive Commission issued its yearly progress report, setting out definitive terms for the future accession to the 15-member Union of 10 new nations. If the final negotiations slated for the December 2002 summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, are successful, by 2004, the E.U. should integrate Malta, Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The accession treaty should be signed in April 2003.
The commission also recommended 2007 as a membership target date for Bulgaria and Romania to join the Union. Concerning the former nation, on October 4, French Minister Delegate for European Affairs Noëlle Lenoir commented to the press that “France strongly supports the finalization of Bulgaria’s application process to the [European] Union.” She spoke in the context of an official visit to France by Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Solomon Passy. On October 9, Lenoir emphasized France’s commitment to creating “a political Europe, which can assert itself as a political community. The larger the [European] family becomes,” she added, “the more rigorous its discipline must be, this is the goal of the Convention which is to prepare a new constitution for Europe.” She also announced that Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is soon to launch a nationwide information campaign in France to make sure its citizens know “that Europe does not end halfway across the continent.” The campaign should last through the entire year 2003.
France tries Islamic militants for 1995 subway bombings
France will spend the month of October flashing back to 1995 as a special court tries two Islamic militants for a series of subway bombings that resulted in the deaths of eight people and injured over 200 . The radical Algerian insurgency movement, the Armed Islamic Group, claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they aimed to punish France for allegedly supporting Algeria’s military-backed government in its now decade-long war on Islamic insurgents.
Algerians Boualen Bensaid and Smain Ait Ali Belkacem, both 34 years-old, face life in jail if convicted by the antiterrorism court, made up of a panel of judges. Both suspects are already serving prison sentences for earlier convictions in connection with the attacks, but this is the first time they will be tried for the bombings themselves, at the St. Michel (July 25), Maison Blanche (October 6) and Musée d’Orsay (October 17), trans-regional subway stations in Paris. A third suspect, Rachid Ramda, arrested in Britain in 1997 and the alleged banker of the group, will be tried in absentia at a later date.
After the bombings, security was heightened, with soldiers in the streets, sealed garbage cans and parking forbidden in numerous places. The security plan remains in effect at a lower level.
Courts will be going over 35,000 pages of documents compiled in the seven years since the bombings. There will be 180 civil parties in the case and victims’ families plan to address the court in memory of their dead.
Charges include murder, attempted murder, and destruction of property with explosives. A verdict is to be issued on October 30.