US embassy cable - 05PARIS1477

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001477 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2015 
TAGS: PREL, ETTC, MARR, KPKO, CG, FR, UNSC 
SUBJECT: FRENCH REACT POSITIVELY TO DEMARCHE ON DRC ARMS 
EMBARGO RESOLUTION 
 
REF: STATE 38896 
 
Classified By: POL/MC Josiah Rosenblatt for reason 1.4 (b/d). 
 
1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  MFA AF PDAS Elisabeth Barbier on March 7 
expressed general agreement with reftel demarche on the DRC 
arms embargo resolution, accepting that MONUC did not need to 
take on additional responsibilities.  She also responded 
favorably to the proposed flight reporting provision but said 
that France had not yet taken an official position on the 
provision.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C)  Pol/MC met with MFA AF PDAS-equivalent Elisabeth 
Barbier on March 7 and conveyed reftel points concerning the 
DRC arms embargo resolution.  Barbier agreed that a 
geographic extension of MONUC's arms embargo to the rest of 
the DRC would "tax" MONUC and would "not be realistic."  If 
there were an extension, she remarked that France would 
prefer its scope to cover Congo's "neighbors to the east," 
where the situation, she said, was more dire than in the rest 
of the DRC.  Continuing, Barbier nonetheless said that MONUC 
"had its hands full" and did not need additional 
responsibilities such as new requirement to monitor and 
enforce the arms embargo. 
 
3.  (C)  Barbier responded favorably to the notion of a 
provision in the resolution on flight reporting, although she 
said that the GOF had not yet taken an official position on 
the issue.  She said that such a provision would be 
"worthwhile."  However, she suggested that reporting could be 
done on a weekly or monthly basis, rather than beforehand on 
each individual flight, which she said would be difficult to 
accomplish for logistical reasons. 
Leach