US embassy cable - 05PARIS7220

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 007220 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/CT AND C 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PTER, FR 
SUBJECT: GOF NEARS COMPLETION OF WHITE PAPER ON 
TERRORISM/INTERNAL SECURITY 
 
REF: A. PARIS 4749 
 
     B. PARIS 3118 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER COUNSELOR JOSIAH ROSENBLATT, FOR REAS 
ONS 1.4 B/D 
 
1. (C) The GOF continues to finalize its white paper on 
terrorism and internal security (ref B).  On October 20, 
Poloff contacted Louis Blin, the MFA's office 
director-equivalent for terrorism and security, for an 
update.  Blin said the GOF was in a period of "synthesis," in 
which the inter-agency process is focusing on the paper's 
overall coherence.  He added that the comprehensive nature of 
the white paper - it "touches everything" - has forced the 
GOF to reexamine and regroup proposed policy and procedural 
recommendations.  The white paper should be ready by the end 
of November, said Blin, although he would not be drawn into 
any substantive speculation, saying that whatever he 
discussed might be modified through the inter-agency process. 
 
2. (C) Poloff also spoke with Julien Deruffe, the MFA's 
senior desk officer for counter-terrorism.  Deruffe confirmed 
that the white paper was planned for public release by the 
end of November.  He said the GOF also planned to preview the 
document on November 17 with selected members of French civil 
society, given that the white paper's audience is the French 
public.  Still, he said the MFA had argued for inviting 
certain Embassies to the meeting, and he confirmed that the 
U.S. Embassy would be invited to attend.  Turning to the 
white paper itself, Deruffe said inter-agency debate had been 
"intense," although he did not believe its final conclusions 
or recommendations would be extremely controversial. 
 
3. (C) Visiting U/S Nick Burns heard from MFA Political 
Director Stanislas de Laboulaye October 19 that the white 
paper's chapter on international cooperation had elicited one 
new reflection within GOF security circles: the Iraq 
insurgency is replacing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a 
motivating force within radicalized elements in Paris' 
lower-class Muslim suburbs. 
 
4. (U) Drafting and editing of the white paper is being 
overseen by the General Secretariat for National Defense 
(SGDN), in conjunction with the Ministry of Interior.  The 
paper encompasses six areas of reflection: possible threats 
to France's internal stability, terrorist threats to world 
stability, the use of technology by terrorists, the role of 
the legal system in combating terrorism, international 
counter-terrorism cooperation, and public outreach. 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
STAPLETON