US embassy cable - 03HARARE357

UNCLAS HARARE 000357 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS 
AF/S FOR RAYNOR 
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, KPAO, ZI 
SUBJECT: PRO-GOVERNMENT PAPER HAILS FRANCE AS A 
"SUPERPOWER" 
 
 
  1.   Under headline "The Franco-African summit" the 
      pro-government daily "The Daily Mirror" dedicated 
      its February 20 editorial to hailing France for 
      shooting down plans for a war against Iraq and for 
      inviting Mr. Robert Mugabe to attend the 
      Franco-African summit in Paris, saying "France has a 
      clearer vision of present day international 
      relations than Britain and America."  Excerpts 
      follow: 
 
  2.   ". . .Of late, France appears to be gaining an upper 
      hand with its successful stand against Britain over 
      Zimbabwe, in the European Union over Turkey and 
      against the U.S.A. in the U.N. Security Council over 
      war on Iraq.  The sum total of all these 
      confrontations appears to lead to the conclusion 
      that France has a clearer vision of present day 
      international relations than Britain and America 
      have.  That is why other powerful nations such as 
      Germany, Russia and China are firmly behind France 
      especially on its stance against war on Iraq.  Some 
      analysts have even said that there are now two 
      superpowers in the world, the United States on the 
      one hand, and the rest of the world led by France, 
      on the other.  And if Mugabe's attendance of the 
      Franco-African summit means that Zimbabwe is aligned 
      to the latter superpower, why not? 
 
SULLIVAN