US embassy cable - 05PARIS2413

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002413 
 
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 - (MIDDLE EAST - ARIEL SHARON 
TO WASHINGTON) CHINA - ANTI-JAPANESE DEMONSTRATIONS 
PARIS - MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2005 
 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
(MIDDLE EAST - ARIEL SHARON TO WASHINGTON) 
CHINA - ANTI-JAPANESE DEMONSTRATIONS 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO ANNOUNCES ON ITS FRONT PAGE: "BUSH- 
SHARON: A SUMMIT TO SAVE THE TRUCE" AND REPORTS ON 
WASHINGTON'S "IRRITATION OVER NEW SETTLEMENTS IN THE WEST 
BANK." THIS IS THE TITLE CHOSEN BY CATHOLIC LA CROIX FOR ITS 
REPORT ON THE SUMMIT: "SHARON AND BUSH DIVIDED ON 
SETTLEMENTS." THE EDITORIAL BY FRANCOIS ERNENWEIN, TITLED "THE 
TRAP" REFERS TO THE "INFERNAL CYCLE OF VIOLENCE AND REPRESSION 
THAT COULD CLOSE IN ON THE MIDDLE EAST." (SEE PART C) 
 
SEVERAL STORIES ARE DEVOTED TO AL-QAEDA TERRORISTS. IN RIGHT- 
OF-CENTER WEEKLY L'EXPRESS PATRICE COSTE REPORTS ON HOW THE 
U.S. HAS ALLEGEDLY CONTRACTED OUT TORTURE OF DETAINEES TO 
FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS, IN EGYPT, JORDAN AND AFGHANISTAN NAMELY. 
THE KILLING IN SAUDI ARABIA OF ABDELKRIM MEJJATI IS REPORTED 
IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE JOURNAL DU DIMANCHE. GILLES DELAFON 
CONCLUDES: "IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS, 25 OF THE 26 MOST WANTED 
TERRORISTS IN SAUDI ARABIA HAVE EITHER BEEN APPREHENDED OR 
KILLED. THIS IS AN UNDENIABLE SUCCESS FOR SAUDI ARABIA'S 
INCREASINGLY EFFECTIVE INTELLIGENCE." IN POPULAR RIGHT-OF- 
CENTER LE PARISIEN CHRISTOPHE DUBOIS DEVOTES TWO PAGES TO AN 
INTERVIEW OF KHALED BEN MUSTAPHA, A FORMER GUANTANAMO 
DETAINEE: "THE HORRIBLE TALE OF A FRENCHMAN HELD AT 
GUANTANAMO." 
 
TWO EDITORIALS ARE DEVOTED TO THE "ANTI-JAPANESE FEVER" 
UNLEASHED IN CHINA OVER REVISIONISM. IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE 
FIGARO PIERRE ROUSSELIN WRITES: "IN TODAY'S MODERN WORLD, 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS REQUIRE THAT EVERYONE TAKE 
RESPONSIBILITY FOR ONE'S ACTIONS." (SEE PART C) 
 
LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION DEVOTES ITS LEAD STORY TO THE LATEST 
CONTROVERSY IN THE FILM INDUSTRY OVER SUBSIDIES TO FRENCH 
FILMS MADE WITH FOREIGN INVESTMENTS, "ESSENTIALLY AMERICAN 
FUNDS." IN HIS EDITORIAL PATRICK SABATIER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT 
"THE ISSUE IS COMPLEX AND NEEDS TO BE UNRAVELED, BUT A CIVIL 
WAR IN THE FRENCH FILM INDUSTRY WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY MAKE FOR A 
VERY BAD MOVIE." 
 
AIRLINE SUBSIDIES MAKE THE FRONT PAGE OF LE FIGARO ECONOMIE IN 
AN ARTICLE TITLED "THE TRUCE ENDS TONIGHT." OLIVIER AUGUSTE 
WRITES: "BOTH SIDES CONTINUE TO SHOW THEIR COMMITMENT TO A 
NEGOTIATED SOLUTION, EVEN IF IT MEANS EXTENDING THE DEADLINE. 
EU COMMISSIONER IS SAID TO BE BANKING ON LESS EXECRABLE 
RELATIONS WITH ROB PORTMAN, THE NEXT U.S. NEGOTIATOR, THAN 
WITH ROBERT ZOELLICK. BUT NEITHER PARTY HAS MUCH TO GAIN FROM 
GOING TO THE WTO. THE PROCEDURE WOULD BE EXTREMELY LONG AND 
THE WTO COULD WELL PUT INTO QUESTION THE PRINCIPLE OF 
SUBSIDIES IN GENERAL. BOTH BOEING AND AIRBUS WOULD BE THE 
LOSERS." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
DUE TO A COMPUTER MISFUNCTION PART C WAS LOST AND THERE WAS NO 
TIME TO RE-CREATE IT. WE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE ONLY THE 
FOLLOWING 
 
CHINA - ANTI-JAPANESE DEMONSTRATIONS 
 
"A THIRD OF HUMANITY UNDER PRESSURE" 
JEAN-CLAUDE KIEFER IN REGIONAL LES DERNIERES NOUVELLES 
D'ALSACE (04/11): "BEIJING WOULD SEEM TO BE PREPARING A NEW 
`CULTURAL REVOLUTION,' FIRST BY FINDING A `SCAPEGOAT' TO 
CHANNEL SOCIAL DISCONTENT, AND THIS ROLE SEEMS TO SUIT JAPAN 
BETTER THAN TAIWAN. WE CAN HARDLY IMAGINE WHERE THESE 
EXAGGERATED TENSIONS IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD WILL LEAD. AND 
IN WHAT FIX THEY LEAVE THE UNITED STATES. UNLIKE EUROPE, WHERE 
FRANCE PREPARES TO SELL ARMS TO CHINA, THE U.S. HAS ALWAYS 
MISTRU