US embassy cable - 05ALGIERS1402

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001402 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, ETRD, FR, AG, Algeria-Europe Relations 
SUBJECT: BOUTEFLIKA'S STRATEGIC MANEUVERING ON THE 
FRANCO-ALGERIAN FRIENDSHIP ACCORD 
 
REF: A. ALGIERS 1084 
 
     B. PARIS 4560 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard W. Erdman, 
 for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
SUMMARY AND COMMENT 
------------------- 
 
1. (C) President Bouteflika has spoken out twice in the last 
ten days against the French law passed by the French 
Parliament in February citing the positive achievements of 
the French colonial period. Prior to Bouteflika's comments, 
however, Algerian Foreign Minister Mohamed Bedjaoui spoke of 
a need to focus on the future rather than the past.  The 
Algerian press and political leaders have vied with one 
another in grandstanding and expressing outrage over the 
insulting and insensitive nature of the French law, with 
several suggesting that the law could undermine the chances 
of concluding the Franco-Algerian Friendship Accord in the 
works since April 2003.  The French Ambassador believes 
Bouteflika's sharp criticism of the French legislation is 
designed to get in front of building criticism and then guide 
attention to the future rather than the past, with a view to 
concluding the passage of the Friendship Treaty with France 
before the end of the year.  The orgy of criticism, coupled 
with continued signals about concluding the Friendship 
Treaty, underscore Algeria's continuing love-hate 
relationship with France, its prickly nationalist pride, and 
its greater assertiveness, as it emerges from over a decade 
of terrorism and diplomatic ostracism.  (End Summary and 
Comment) 
 
 
BOUTEFLIKA CONDEMNS 23 FEBRUARY FRENCH LAW 
----------------------------------------- 
 
2. (U)  France was the target of some sharp criticism by 
Bouteflika in May on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary 
of the 1945 massacres in Setif (Ref A).  After a brief 
respite without public comment, the criticism resumed in late 
June, this time focused on a law passed by the French 
parliament in February that cited the positive achievements 
of the French colonial period (civilizing mission). President 
Bouteflika has spoken out twice in the last ten days against 
the law.  In a June 30 speech commemorating the 50th 
anniversary of the founding of the General Union of Algerian 
Muslim Students (UGEMA) and its role in Algerian 
independence, Bouteflika rejected the notion that 
colonialization has been a civilizing experience for Algerian 
society.  On the contrary, it had been "a massive undertaking 
to decivilize them.  It is difficult not to be incensed by 
the law voted by the French Parliament on 23 February and 
which represents a mental blindness bordering on negativism 
and revisionism." 
 
3. (U) On July 2, Bouteflika gave another speech celebrating 
the founding of the National Liberation Army (ALN) and said, 
"We must be vigilant towards these laws emanating from the 
French Parliament that are far from innocent."  He continued 
his comments by saying, "How can a parliament glorify a 
colonial presence guilty of massacres against an entire 
people and pretend that this presence rendered service to the 
colonized peoples?"  Prior to these statements, the only 
Algerian principal who had criticized the law had been former 
Foreign Minister and current head of the National Liberation 
Front (FLN), Abdelaziz Belkhadem. 
 
 
BEDJAOUI OUT OF TOUCH? 
---------------------- 
 
4. (SBU)  Bouteflika's comments are all the more surprising 
when compared to public statements of Algerian Foreign 
Minister Mohamed Bedjaoui made just weeks earlier.  In a June 
14 speech, Bedjaoui told reporters that the French law came 
as a "surprise" to Algeria, but he underlined that the 
Friendship Accord agreed to by Bouteflika and Chirac in 2003 
was "important" and that "each country must assume its 
responsibilities in this regard....and turn our focus towards 
the future."  On June 25, he commented that the absence of an 
official Algerian reaction to the French law was wise and 
that it was unnecessary to "throw oil onto the fire.  The 
trial for colonialism is not expected in 2005; colonialism is 
already condemned." 
 
 
POSITIVE REMARKS ON ALGERIAN-FRENCH FRIENDSHIP ACCORD 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
5. (C)  Bouteflika did strike a positive note for the 
Friendship Accord in his June 30 speech, however. 
Bouteflika tempered his remarks against the French Parliament 
by noting that the Friendship Accord would not be derailed: 
"The Algerians extend with goodwill to the French a fraternal 
hand to take up the challenges of the future and to finish 
with the times of colonialism and the universal claim of the 
West."   French Ambassador Hubert Colin de Verdire privately 
commented to Ambassador that Bouteflika was positioning 
himself politically to go forward with the Friendship Accord 
later in the year.  By first acknowledging the internal 
criticisms about the French law, Bouteflika could, in the 
French Ambassador's view, prepare public opinion and then win 
support for passage of the Friendship Accord. 
 
 
ERDMAN