US embassy cable - 05PARIS2844

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002844 
 
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; USVIENNA FOR USDEL OSCE. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC, KMDR, FR 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - LEBANON - SYRIAN PULLOUT 
RUSSIA - YUKOS TRIAL - PUTIN TO ISRAEL 
PARIS - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2005 
 
(A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: 
 
1. LEBANON - SYRIAN PULLOUT 
2. RUSSIA - YUKOS TRIAL - PUTIN TO ISRAEL 
 
B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: 
 
THE SYRIAN PULLOUT FROM LEBANON ELICITS WIDE COVERAGE, 
PARTICULARLY IN LE FIGARO, WHICH LENDS ITS PAGES TO SEVERAL 
COMMENTARIES AND INTERVIEWS. ISRAEL'S AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE, 
NISSIM ZVILI PENS AN OP-ED CALLING FOR THE DISARMING OF 
HEZBOLLAH AFTER THE SYRIAN PULLOUT FROM LEBANON, " WHICH CAME 
ABOUT THANKS TO FRANCO-AMERICAN PRESSURE. BUT IF FRANCE AND 
EUROPE WANT TO PLAY A ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, THEY MUST BE 
COHERENT IN THEIR APPROACH TO SYRIA AND HEZBOLLAH." LE FIGARO 
INTERVIEWS FORMER LEBANESE CULTURE MINISTER GHASSAN SALAME ON 
THE ROLE PLAYED BY FRANCE IN SYRIA'S PULLOUT FROM LEBANON: 
"FRANCE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN CREATING A DYNAMIC FOR THIS 
PULLOUT, INCLUDING VIS-A-VIS THE U.S. THE OUTCOME IS A MAJOR 
DIPLOMATIC SUCCESS FOR FRANCE. ALL THE MORE SO BECAUSE PARIS 
DID NOT HAVE TO BALANCE IT WITH A QUID-PRO-QUO IN ITS 
RELATIONSHIP WITH WASHINGTON, ON THE IRAQI ISSUE FOR EXAMPLE. 
FRANCE MANAGED TO SEPARATE THE LEBANESE QUESTION FROM THE 
FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM OR THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT. 
THIS COOPERATION BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND PARIS HAS LEFT ITS 
MARK. FRANCE WAS ABLE TO PROVE TO WASHINGTON THAT IN SPITE OF 
THEIR DISAGREEMENTS ON THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE WORLD, POINTS 
OF CONVERGENCE CAN BE FOUND." 
 
ANTOINE BASBOUS, DIRECTOR OF THE OBSERVATORY FOR ARAB 
COUNTRIES, ANALYZES THE "DILEMMAS OF HEZBOLLAH." (SEE PART C) 
INTERVIEWED IN POPULAR RIGHT-OF-CENTER FRANCE SOIR, BASBOUS 
SAYS: "SYRIA'S CAPACITY FOR HARM IS HUGE AS IT CONTINUES TO 
HAVE THE SUPPORT OF HEZBOLLAH." A POSITION SHARED BY JEAN- 
CHRISTOPHE PLOQUIN IN LA CROIX. (SEE PART C) 
 
VLADIMIR PUTIN'S VISIT TO ISRAEL AND HIS "AMBIVALENT" ATTITUDE 
ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE AND AT HOME ARE ANALYZED BY PIERRE 
ROUSSELIN IN LE FIGARO. (SEE PART C) 
 
LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION DEVOTES A FULL-PAGE REPORT TO 
MOUSSAOUI'S GUILTY PLEA, HIS MOTHER'S APPEAL TO THE FRENCH 
AUTHORITIES TO HAVE HIM TRIED IN FRANCE "WHERE THE DEATH 
PENALTY HAS BEEN ABOLISHED" AND HIS FRENCH LAWYERS' 
ACCUSATIONS THAT "THE FRENCH AUTHORITIES HELPED THE U.S. 
PROSECUTOR." 
 
ON THE EUROPEAN AND DOMESTIC FRONT, CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER'S 
VISIT TO PARIS "TO AID CHIRAC IN HIS CAMPAIGN FOR THE `YES' IN 
SUPPORT OF THE EU CHARTER" IS WIDELY REPORTED. IN ITS 
EDITORIAL, LEFT-OF-CENTER LIBERATION COMMENTS: "THE FIRST 
IMPACT OF A FRENCH `NO' VOTE WOULD BE TO BREAK THE FRANCO- 
GERMAN ENGINE WHICH HAS BEEN PULLING EUROPE TOGETHER. ON MAY 
29 THE FRENCH WILL NOT BE VOTING SOLELY FOR THEMSELVES." 
 
THE AIRBUS A380'S MAIDEN FLIGHT SCHEDULED FOR TODAY IS 
FEATURED PROMINENTLY ON THE FRONT PAGES OF ECONOMIC LES ECHOS 
AND LA TRIBUNE, WITH COMMENTARIES CRITICIZING THE TIMING OF 
BOEING'S PROGRAMMED ANNOUNCEMENTS ABOUT ITS SALES TO AIR 
CANADA AND AIR INDIA, AND "BREAKING THE FESTIVE SPIRIT." 
 
(C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: 
 
LEBANON - SYRIAN PULLOUT 
 
"A NEW FUTURE FOR LEBANON" 
JEAN-CHRISTOPHE PLOQUIN IN CATHOLIC LA CROIX (04/27): "SYRIA'S 
INFLUENCE IN LEBANON WILL REMAIN STRONG. ESPECIALLY THROUGH 
LEBANON'S INTELLIGENCE WHICH SYRIA HAS INFILTRATED. 
COMPETITION FOR DIRECTING THE COUNTRY'S FUTURE WILL BE 
OPERATING BETWEEN ISRAEL, EGYPT, SAUDI ARABIA AND IRAN, BUT 
ALSO FRANCE AND THE U.S. . THE CHALLENGE FACING LEBANON IS 
DAUNTING, PARTICULARLY AS A SCENARIO FOR A SHOCK BETWEEN 
CIVILIZATIONS CAN STILL BE FOMENTED IN THE MIDDLE EAST." 
"HEZBOLLAH'S DILEMMA" 
ANTOINE BASBOUS IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO (04/27): "FOR 
HEZBOLLAH, THE MOMENT OF TRUTH IS FAST APPROACHING. THE 
DISMANTLING OF `HEZBOLLAH- LAND,' WHICH SPREADS ACROSS 
LEBANON, IS NOT TO THE LIKING OF SYRIA. UNTIL NOW, THE 
LEBANESE DARED NOT CALL FOR THE DISARMING OF HEZBOLLAH WHICH 
THEY ARDENTLY WANT. WITH THE PROGRAMMED FALL OF ITS NUMBER ONE 
SUPPORTER, SYRIA, HEZBOLLAH FACES A NUMBER OF CHALLENGES FOR 
ITS SURVIVAL. WHICH INCLUDES A RE-ASSESSMENT OF ITS IDEOLOGY. 
AND THE DISARMING OF THE MOVEMENT IN ORDER TO ACCELERATE ITS 
POSITIONING AS A POLITICAL MOVEMENT. HEZBOLLAH WOULD BE WELL 
INSPIRED TO RE-ASSES THE NEW REGIONAL BALANCE OF POWER TO 
OPERATE ITS MUTATION AND JOIN THE LEBANESE CONSENSUS FOR 
NATIONAL UNITY AND INDEPENDENCE." 
 
RUSSIA - YUKOS TRIAL - PUTIN TO ISRAEL 
 
"PUTIN'S AMBIGUITIES" 
PIERRE ROUSSELIN IN RIGHT-OF-CENTER LE FIGARO (04/27): 
"BECAUSE HE IS FACING HARSH DIFFICULTIES AT HOME, PUTIN IS 
GOING ABROAD. TOMORROW HE BEGINS A TOUR OF THE MIDDLE EAST TO 
PROVE THAT RUSSIA CAN STILL PLAY A ROLE IN THE AFFAIRS OF THE 
WORLD. HIS VISIT TO ISRAEL WILL BE A HISTORIC MOMENT. WITH 
SHARON, HE SHARES THE SAME APPROACH, DIRECT AND WITHOUT 
CONCESSION, ESPECIALLY WHEN SPEAKING ABOUT THE FIGHT AGAINST 
TERRORISM. AS A MEMBER OF THE QUARTET, RUSSIA RETAINS, AT 
LEAST FORMALLY, THE FORMER SOVIET UNION'S ROLE IN MIDDLE EAST 
PEACE. BUT HIS SELLING GROUND-TO-AIR MISSILES TO SYRIA RAISES 
A LOT OF QUESTIONS. DOES THE KREMLIN WANT TO IMPOSE RUSSIA IN 
THE MIDDLE EAST BY AWAKENING AN OLD ALLIANCE WITH SYRIA, WHICH 
DATES BACK TO THE COLD WAR, NOW THAT SYRIA HAS BEEN WEAKENED 
BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN DROPPED BY EUROPE AND THE U.S.? NUCLEAR 
COOPERATION BETWEEN MOSCOW AND TEHERAN IS ALREADY A SOURCE OF 
CONCERN FOR THE WEST. PUTIN'S AMBIGUITIES, AFTER HIS COMMENT 
ABOUT THE FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION BEING A `GEO-STRATEGIC 
CATASTROPHE' ARE NOT LIMITED TO FOREIGN DIPLOMACY. TODAY'S 
VERDICT IN THE YUKOS AFFAIR COULD SHED SOME LIGHT ON HIS 
INTENTIONS ABOUT RUSSIAN INDUSTRY AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT. IN 
THE MIDDLE EAST AT LEAST HE CANNOT BOTH PRETEND TO SUPPORT THE 
PEACE PROCESS AND RE-AWAKEN FORMER ANTAGONISMS DATING TO THE 
SOVIET UNION." WOLFF