US embassy cable - 05PARIS2245

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002245 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR INR/R/MR; IIP/RW; IIP/RNY; BBG/VOA; IIP/WEU; AF/PA; 
EUR/WE /P/SP; D/C (MCCOO); EUR/PA; INR/P; INR/EUC; PM; OSC ISA 
FOR ILN; NEA; WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE; DOC FOR ITA/EUR/FR 
AND PASS USTR/PA; USINCEUR FOR PAO; NATO/PA; MOSCOW/PA; 
ROME/PA; BRUSSELS/PA; USVIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, KMDR, FR 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - TRIBUTE TO JOHN PAUL II UN 
REPORT: ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY 
PARIS - TUESDAY, APRIL 05, 2005 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
1. TRIBUTE TO JOHN PAUL II 
2. UN REPORT: ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
TRIBUTE TO JOHN PAUL II CONTINUES TO BE TODAY'S OVERWHELMING 
FRONT PAGE AND EDITORIAL STORY. SEVERAL REPORTS NOTE THAT THE 
PRESIDENT AND MRS. BUSH WILL ATTEND FRIDAY'S FUNERAL. LE 
FIGARO TITLES: "THE FIRST U.S. PRESIDENT TO ATTEND A POPE'S 
FUNERAL." "THE EXCEPTIONAL PRESENCE OF A U.S. PRESIDENT IS 
PROOF OF THE VERY UNIQUE RELATIONSHIP WHICH JOHN PAUL II 
ESTABLISHED WITH THE U.S., WHICH HE VISITED SEVEN TIMES." IN A 
SEPARATE STORY TITLED "BACHAR EL-ASSAD, THE UNEXPECTED GUEST," 
PIERRE PRIER COMMENTS: "THE SYRIAN PRESIDENT, WHO HAS BEEN 
PLACED UNDER SURVEILLANCE BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, WILL 
BE STANDING NEXT TO HIS TWO MAIN TORMENTORS, PRESIDENTS BUSH 
AND CHIRAC. THIS UNEXPECTED GUEST WILL SAVOR THE MOMENT WHEN 
HE WILL BE THE EQUAL OF HIS POWERFUL ADVERSARIES, DURING THE 
PLANETARY TRIBUTE TO A MAN WHO HAD VIOLENTLY CONDEMNED THE 
EMBARGO AND LATER THE WAR IN IRAQ." 
 
TWO DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED EDITORIALS, ONE IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER 
LE FIGARO THE OTHER IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION, COMMENT ON 
THE "GLOBAL CITIZEN" (LE FIGARO) AND ON FRANCE'S EXCESS OF 
IDOLATRY (LIBERATION). THE TWO OPPOSING VIEWS ILLUSTRATE THE 
DEBATE WHICH HAS FLARED IN FRANCE OVER TELEVISION COVERAGE OF 
THE POPE'S DEATH AND THE GOVERNMENT'S DECISION TO PUT ALL 
GOVERNMENT BUILDING FLAGS AT HALF-MAST. THIS DEBATE OVER 
FRANCE'S SECULARISM IS THE CENTRAL THEME OF THE EDITORIAL IN 
REGIONAL LES DERNIERES NOUVELLES D'ALSACE, WHILE LEFT-OF- 
CENTER LE MONDE IN ITS EDITORIAL TITLED "A UNIVERSAL EMOTION" 
CONTENDS THAT THE TRIBUTE IS IN KEEPING WITH THE STATURE OF 
THE MAN. (SEE PART C) 
 
ON THE OCCASION OF THE IRANIAN PRESIDENT'S VISIT TO PARIS, LE 
FIGARO CARRIES A FULL-PAGE INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KHATAMI, 
TITLED "IRANIAN PRESIDENT REFUSES TO GIVE UP IRAN'S CIVILIAN 
NUCLEAR PROGRAM." "I BELIEVE THAT DEMOCRACY AND ISLAM ARE 
COMPATIBLE, ON TWO CONDITIONS: FIRST WE MUST NOT LIMIT ISLAM 
TO A NARROW TALIBAN-STYLE VISION. AND INSTEAD OF REDUCING 
DEMOCRACY TO ONE VERSION, DEMOCRACY MUST BE ADAPTED TO THE 
CULTURE AND IDENTITY OF EACH NATION. ON THE NUCLEAR ISSUE, OUR 
NEGOTIATIONS ARE WITH THE EUROPEANS. WE MUST RESPECT THE 
AGREEMENT REACHED IN PARIS. IRAN WILL TEMPORARILY SUSPEND ITS 
NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES. BUT WE REFUSE TO STOP OUR CIVILIAN NUCLEAR 
ACTIVITIES PERMANENTLY." 
 
ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY ARE ALSO THE SUBJECT OF VARIOUS ARTICLES 
ON THE UN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT IN THE ARAB WORLD. IN LEFT- 
OF-CENTER LIBERATION CHRISTOPHE AYAD TITLES HIS ARTICLE: "ONE 
ELECTION DOES NOT AN ARAB SPRING MAKE." (SEE PART C) 
 
THE ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL PRESS REPORTS THAT "WASHINGTON IS 
READY TO POSTPONE ITS ULTIMATUM ON SUBSIDIES TO BOEING AND 
AIRBUS." (LE FIGARO ECONOMIE) DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE 
ZEOLLICK IS QUOTED. 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
TRIBUTE TO JOHN PAUL II 
 
"A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD" 
MICHEL SCHIFRES IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO (04/05): "WE ARE 
ASTONISHED BY THE IMPACT OF JOHN POPE'S DEATH AROUND THE 
WORLD. AN IMPACT WHICH SERVES TO ILLUSTRATE THE AURA OF A 
UNIVERSAL MAN. OTHER DEATHS IN THE PAST HAVE ELICITED SIMILAR 
POPULAR FERVOR: THE DEATH OF JOHN F. KENNEDY, GANDHI. BUT 
THESE DID NOT HAVE THE SAME UNIVERSAL NATURE. IN A SENSE WE 
MUST GO BACK TO THE TRAGEDY OF THE TWIN TOWERS ON 9/11 TO FIND 
A COMPARABLE EMOTION. ALL CONTINENTS WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF 
RACE OR RELIGION ARE EXPRESSING THE SAME COMPASSION AND THE 
SAME SADNESS FOR THE PASSING OF A MAN WHO WAS THE LEADER OF 
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND AN ICON FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD." 
 
"IDOLATRY" 
PATRICK SABATIER IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (04/05): "OUR 
FAITH IN REASON NEEDS TO BE STRONG IN ORDER NOT TO BE 
OVERWHELMED BY THE WAVES OF HOLY WATER AND IDOLATRY INUNDATING 
US. COMPASSION FOR THE MAN, TOLERANCE FOR ALL RELIGIONS AND 
THE FACT THAT THIS POPE HAS PLAYED A POLITICAL ROLE IS NOT 
ENOUGH TO KEEP US FROM SHUDDERING AT THIS UNIVERSAL TRIBUTE 
AND AT THE STIFLING OF ANY CRITICISM OF HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS, 
WHICH WERE FAR FROM PERFECT. JOHN PAUL II WAS A 
ULTRACONSERVATIVE WHOSE USE OF THE RELIGIOUS STICK IS 
EMBLEMATIC OF ALL FORMS OF RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM WHICH 
PLAGUES HUMANITY." 
 
"COMMUNICATION AND GLOBALIZATION" 
JEAN-CLAUDE KIEFER IN REGIONAL LES DERNIERES NOUVELLES 
D'ALSACE (04/05): "THIS `POLICY OF COMMUNICATION' COMPLETELY 
BREAKS WITH THE TRADITIONAL CAUTION OF THE VATICAN AND PUTS 
RELIGION IN TUNE WITH GLOBALIZATION. WORLD LEADERS HAVE 
UNDERSTOOD (SUCH MEDIA ATTENTION): CATHOLIC OR NOT, THEY WILL 
ALMOST ALL ATTEND THE FUNERAL ON FRIDAY. AMONG THEM, GEORGE W. 
BUSH, THE VERY CHRISTIAN AMERICAN PRESIDENT WHOM THE POPE 
BROUGHT UP SHORT BY PUBLICLY CONDEMNING THE WAR IN IRAQ. 
COMPARED TO THE DIMENSIONS TAKEN ON BY THE DEATH OF THE POPE, 
CERTAIN QUARRELS SEEM RIDICULOUS. SOME, IN FRANCE, COMPLAIN 
BECAUSE THE SECULAR REPUBLIC HAS LOWERED ITS FLAGS FOR A 
RELIGIOUS LEADER (WHO IS ALSO A HEAD OF STATE)!  THEY FORGET 
THAT JEAN PAUL II DID MORE FOR THE IMAGE OF FRANCE, WHEN 
FOLLOWED BY TELEVISION DURING HIS VISITS, THAN ALL THEIR 
(SECULAR) SPEECHES COMBINED. AND THEY FORGET THE VERY CATHOLIC 
BURIALS OF OUR DECEASED PRESIDENTS OF OUR VERY SECULAR 
REPUBLIC." 
 
"A UNIVERSAL EMOTION" 
LEFT-OF-CENTER LE MONDE IN ITS EDITORIAL (04/05): "A GLOBAL 
EMOTION IS TODAY'S RESPONSE TO THE PASSING OF JOHN PAUL II. 
WORLDWIDE COVERAGE HAS IN A SENSE TEMPORARILY ERASED THE 
`SHOCK BETWEEN CIVILIZATIONS.' FEW EXPERTS COULD HAVE 
PREDICTED THE COVERAGE WHICH AL-JAZZIRA AND AL-ARABIYA HAVE 
DEVOTED TO THE STORY. THE MEDIA IS FASCINATED WITH THIS FIGURE 
WHO SOON BECAME THE ICON OF A GLOBAL PEOPLE IN SEARCH OF 
REFERENCES AND IN SEARCH OF A FATHER FIGURE. JOHN PAUL II WAS 
AN EMINENTLY POLITICAL POPE WHO SOUGHT TO GO BEYOND THE 
BORDERS OF RELIGION. THE WORLD TODAY IS PAYING HIM A UNIVERSAL 
TRIBUTE." 
 
UN REPORT: ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY 
 
"ONE ELECTION DOES NOT AN ARAB SPRING MAKE." 
CHRISTOPHE AYAD IN LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION (04/05): "THE 
ARAB WORLD IS SUFFERING FROM A LACK OF DEMOCRACY. AND THIS 
TIME IT IS THE UN WHICH IS SAYING IT, NOT PRESIDENT BUSH AND 
HIS NEO-CONS WHO CAN TAKE CREDIT FOR THE ELECTIONS IN IRAQ. 
THE THIRD UN REPORT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN THE ARAB WORLD 
DRAWS A DAMNING PICTURE OF THE STATE OF POLITICAL LIBERTIES, 
DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE IN THE ARAB WORLD." LEACH