US embassy cable - 05PARIS964

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000964 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/14/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, ETTC, EFIN, LE, SY, FR, EUN 
SUBJECT: FRENCH DELAYING TACTICS ON EU DESIGNATION OF 
HIZBALLAH 
 
REF: A. STATE 26062 
     B. PARIS 879 
 
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, reasons 
1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary and comment:  Despite multiple appeals from 
the U.S. and Israel, the GoF appears likely to seek a delay 
in EU designation of Hizballah as a terrorist organization at 
the EU Clearinghouse meetings February 16.  The chief GoF 
preoccupation appears to be the perceived complicating effect 
which EU designation could have on Lebanon's spring 
parliamentary elections, a concern which appears to have 
deepened in the aftermath of the assassination of former PM 
Hariri.  MFA contacts also downplayed Palestinian support for 
our message, claiming that while Palestinian President 
Mahmoud Abbas "mentioned" the Hizballah with French FM 
Barnier last week, he did not press the point.  Israeli 
embassy contacts told us that President Chirac told Israeli 
FM Shalom February 15 that he agreed that Hizballah is a 
terrorist organization, but EU designation should not take 
place until well after Lebanon's elections, perhaps not 
before October.  While the French response is discouraging, 
at least the GoF appears to be moving in a positive 
direction, from "whether" to designate Hizballah to "when." 
End summary and comment. 
 
2. (C) We discussed ref (a) talking points urging French 
support for EU terrorism list designation of Hizballah with 
MFA DAS-equivalent for the Levant Christian Jouret February 
14, and later that day with Presidential Technical Advisor on 
the Middle East/Americas Dominique Boche.  (Note: As reported 
ref b, DCM raised the EU Hizballah designation with FM 
Barnier's Cabinet Director Vimont February 10.  NEA A/S Burns 
made similar points during a meeting with MFA A/S-equivalent 
for Middle East/North Africa Jean-Francois Thibault and Boche 
February 10.  End note.)  Jouret, rather than responding with 
the usual French arguments on why Hizballah designation was 
inadvisable, stated that the GoF was "in a process of 
reflection" on the issue.  He added that the MFA had 
submitted a two-option decision paper to the Elysee in 
advance of the February 16 EU Clearinghouse meeting, 
proposing either: 1) to support a full EU ban on the entire 
organization, or 2) to seek a delay in the Clearinghouse 
decision.  Jouret conceded that he believed "option two" was 
the likely course, largely because the GoF did not want to 
complicate the internal situation in Lebanon in advance of 
spring parliamentary elections.  (Note: This discussion took 
place after initial reports of the February 14 bombing in 
Beirut, but prior to confirmation that PM Hariri had been 
killed in the explosion.)  Poloff, in response, underlined 
ref (a) points on Hizballah's active undermining of the 
Palestinian leadership, stressing that Hizballah threatened 
the very fragile prospects for Middle East peace which France 
had described as the most important issue facing both sides 
of the Atlantic.  Jouret replied by questioning the degree of 
Palestinian support for our arguments; he conceded that 
Palestinian President Abbas had "mentioned" the Hizballah 
issue to FM Barnier during the latter's February 7-8 visit to 
Israel and the Occupied Territories, however he claimed that 
Abbas did not press the point with the GoF in the same manner 
as had the U.S. and Israel. 
 
3. (C) Israeli Embassy Political Counselor Ella Aphek 
(protect) provided us a brief readout of the 
Hizballah-related discussion during visiting Israeli FM 
Silvan Shalom's February 14 meeting with Chirac.  She 
confirmed that Shalom's main objective had been to press 
Chirac to support EU designation of Hizballah, and stressed 
that France was the key holdout among the EU.  Chirac 
reportedly responded that, Hizballah designation is a 
"complex issue," and that he agreed with Shalom that 
Hizballah is a terrorist organization, however the EU 
designation should not take place before Lebanon's spring 
parliamentary elections, perhaps not before October.  Based 
on the Chirac-Shalom discussion, Aphek concluded that there 
would be no breakthroughs at the February 16 Clearinghouse 
meeting. 
 
4. (C) We reviewed ref (a) talking points with Presidential 
Advisor Dominique Boche late February 14, a discussion which 
took place after confirmation of PM Hariri's assassination in 
Beirut.  Boche described the Presidency as still reflecting 
on the EU designation of Hizballah, which he said would be 
considered on two main criteria: 1) Hizballah's military and 
terrorist activities, and, 2) the "regional context," 
specifically the preparation for Lebanon's spring 
parliamentary elections.  On the latter point, Boche said 
that a sudden EU decision to designate Hizballah could make 
Lebanon's Shi'a community feel more "pressured" in the runup 
to elections, in a political scene already destabilized by 
the assassination of former-PM Hariri.  In closing, Boche 
stressed that a decision on EU designation would take time 
and considerable reflection, and that the GoF would have to 
discuss the matter in detail with EU partners. 
 
5. (C) Comment:  While GoF officials avoided responding with 
a direct no to our points and sought to emphasize that the 
GoF was still deliberating the issue, we see all indications 
pointing towards a likely French effort to seek a delay in 
Clearinghouse designation of Hizballah until well after 
Lebanon's parliamentary elections.  Despite our efforts to 
focus on the Hizballah's support for Palestinian terrorist 
groups, the GoF continues to see this issue primarily within 
the framework of Lebanon and the fragile UNSCR 1559 
implementation process.  Although the French response is 
discouraging, at least the GoF appears to be moving from the 
question of "whether" to designate Hizballah to "when" it 
would be most appropriate.  The detailed and specific points 
which Washington is preparing for release to EU governments 
would be helpful in pressing the GoF to move towards 
designation; we note, though, that unlike other EU capitals, 
the French did not ask for this information.  End comment. 
 
Leach