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Afghanistan

Taleban free French aid worker: French FM

2007-05-12

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A French aid worker captured by the Taleban over a month ago was released on Friday, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said. Eric Damfreville of Terre d’Enfance agency, an organisation helping children in southwestern Afghanistan, was kidnapped in early April along with three Afghan colleagues. Douste-Blazy said the Afghans were still being held hostage. He told a news conference Damfreville had been handed over to French embassy representatives and would undergo medical tests before returning to France. A French female colleague kidnapped along with Damfreville was freed last month. Sarkozy said in April he saw no long-term presence for French troops in Afghanistan. Taleban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said Damfreville was freed as a response to payment gesture to new French President Nicolas Sarkozy. “The Taleban Shura (leadership council) decided to free him for the newly elected French president ... had said in his utterances that France will deliberate over withdrawing French troops from Afghanistan,” Yousuf told Reuters by phone from an undisclosed location. Sarkozy said in April he saw no long-term presence for French troops in Afghanistan. “It was certainly useful that we sent (the troops) in the context of the war against terrorism, but the long-term presence of French troops in that part of the world does not seem to me to be decisive,” he said. France has some 1,100 troops in Afghanistan after withdrawing some 200 elite forces, which had operated under US command, earlier this year.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

EU Foreign Ministers Support Britain, Order Lunch

2007-03-31

The EU called on Iran to release the 15 British sailors and marines it is holding in its custody "immediately" and sent a warning it would "decide on appropriate measures" if Tehran did not comply. The statement could did not elaborate on what such measures would be. The EU told Tehran to tell the British government where the prisoners are being held to allow British diplomats access to them. In a statement released after EU foreign ministers met in Bremen, Germany, on Friday, they said "all evidence clearly indicates that at the time of the seizure, the British naval personnel were on a routine patrolling mission in Iraqi waters in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolution 1723." "The seizure," the statement went on to say, "represents a clear breach of international law." The EU statement is stronger than that of the UN Security Council which on Thursday expressed "grave concern" at the naval personnel's detention but declined to back Britain with a call for their immediate release. Britain froze official contacts on Wednesday with Iran as the dispute over the detained sailors intensified, with Prime Minister Tony Blair vowing to "ratchet up" pressure on Tehran.EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called the Iranian action "a big mistake" and called for the release of the sailors, who were captured on March 23. "I don't understand. It's a big mistake. They should release the soldiers immediately," he said as he entered the meeting. "I have total confidence that the British boat was in Iraqi waters," he added, alluding to Iran's claims that the boat had entered its waters. However, there was opposition in the EU to freezing business with Tehran, which diplomats said Britain had initially sought. Guess who? French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Friday that all steps must be taken to avoid an escalation between Britain and Iran. Yup. "We must avert a course towards confrontation, any escalation," said Douste-Blazy in an interview to RTL radio. "The Iranian authorities must simply return to dialog." (burp) "Try the squab!"

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

France still sees diplomatic way out of Iran nuclear crisis

2007-03-12

Of course they do. They're French. ABU DHABI - French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Sunday that a diplomatic solution was still possible to the crisis over Iran’s nuclear programme. ‘Very frankly, I think the diplomatic path is possible. I believe that,’ he said at a joint press conference in Abu Dhabi with Emirati Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahayan. ‘I don’t want to believe for an instant that Iran, after having isolated itself politically and economically, can afford to take further risks,’ the French minister said. Asked about the military option, he said the United States, which is at the forefront of international opposition to Iran’s programme, ‘acknowledges that the strategy (of) using dialogue and pressure are bearing fruit’. It's very useful to us whilst we align our forces and allow certain other 'programs' to bear fruit. The five UN Security Council permanent members, including France, and Germany are currently discussing a draft resolution to tighten sanctions against the Islamic republic for its controversial nuclear fuel work. The council in December agreed a first set of measures penalising Iran for its refusal to suspend sensitive uranium enrichment activities. The new sanctions will be more completely ineffectual. France’s policy is centred on ‘firmness and dialogue’ as well as achieving unanimity, said Douste-Blazy, warning that ‘if there is no unanimity, there will be no effectiveness to the Security Council’s position’. Grandmaster of the Obvious, specially trained at the Ecole Nationale d'Administration. A military strike, which the United States has refused to rule out, ‘would have unpredictable consequences which would prove deeply destabilising for the whole region,’ he said. We could predict a few of those consequences ... Douste-Blazy was winding up a tour of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, which like the other Gulf Arab states have also warned against the regional impact of any strike on Iran. Mostly 'cause they don't want to get hit with the splatter ...

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

International warning against the American scheme in the region

2007-03-12

(SANA)- Leader of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) Wael Hussineya has warned against the Amereican-Israel scheme in the region. So, y'see, it's not quite a National Socialist party. It's a Social Nationalist party. There's a diffo. Really. Hussineyya stressed in a meeting in Tyre, South Lebanon that the US policy in the region aims at protecting Israel through disarming the national resistance, pointing out to the dangerous effects of the American intervention in Lebanon's affairs. Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste Blazy stressed the importance of holding Iraq's Neighboring Conference for acheiving peace and stability in Iraq. During his meeting with Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Mohammed Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah in Kuwait, Blazy stressed the importance of the political solution in Iraq based on reaching accord among all Iraqi parties.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Major powers agree on framework for new Iran resolution

2007-03-03

The United States, four European powers and China have agreed on the framework for a new UN resolution toughening sanctions on Iran, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Friday. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany “are fully in agreement on the framework of a new resolution”, said Douste-Blazy. The breakthrough came during a telephone conference call held Thursday between political directors from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. Washington reported progress during the two-hour talks, with US officials saying that another conference call was scheduled for Saturday and that work on the draft text could begin next week. The foreign minister said that the new resolution would be drafted under the terms of article 41 of the UN charter which authorises the Security Council to take all necessary measures, except military ones, to enforce its resolutions. “The political directors also discussed the broad outlines of the contents of the new resolution,” said the minister. The UN Security Council slapped sanctions on Iran in December, including a ban on the sale of nuclear-related materials to the Islamic Republic and a freeze on financial assets of Iranians involved in illicit atomic research. The push for the new resolution came after a report from the UN nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, last week which said that Iran had not halted, but in fact was expanding, its uranium enrichment programme. The United States and some other western powers believe Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons capability. Iran however has denied seeking nuclear weapons, and asserts it has a right to a peaceful nuclear programme.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

France: 6 powers nearing accord on Iran resolution

2006-12-05

The six powers seeking a UN surrender resolution on Iran's nuclear program are nearing agreement on a surrender text, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Monday. High-ranking diplomats from the UN Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany will surrender meet in Paris on Tuesday to surrender discuss surrender measures to surrender to punish Iran for its nuclear program. "We want to surrender reach as broad an agreement as possible in the UN Security Council," Douste-Blazy said in Brussels, according to the French Foreign Ministry. "Therefore we are surrendering gathering tomorrow in Paris, to surrender discuss the text. I think that we should now surrender reach agreement on this."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

EU backs limited sanctions against Iran

2006-10-18

The European Union, spurred by North Korea's nuclear test, backed limited United Nations sanctions against Iran's nuclear programme on Tuesday after Tehran spurned conditions for opening negotiations. The EU's 25 foreign ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, called for incremental measures that officials said would be targeted first at individuals and materials involved in Iranian uranium enrichment activities. The West suspects Iran is seeking nuclear weapons but Tehran insists it only aims to generate electricity. After four months of talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Iran this month rejected a U.N. demand that it suspend enrichment. "The Iranians' refusal leaves us no choice today but to take to the Security Council route. The Security Council should adopt gradual, reversible measures proportionate to Iranian actions," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told reporters. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called it the "first step in sanctions" but stressed the EU's offer of cooperation remained on the table if Iran was willing to meet the conditions. In New York, French U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere told Reuters three European powers -- France, Britain and Germany -- planned to put forward a draft U.N. Security Council resolution "during the course of this week. We are aiming for Wednesday or Thursday." EU ministers made clear that alarm at North Korea's nuclear test and its implications for other countries were one key factor in showing their resolve towards Iran, although their economic interests with Tehran are far greater. "The most important thing is to have a united response as we showed with North Korea," European External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said. Spanish Secretary of State for European Affairs Alberto Navarro said sanctions would be gradual because Europe, unlike the United States, needed Iran as an oil supplier. Mark Fitzpatrick of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies said the approach with Tehran would be gentler than with Pyongyang. "A sanctions resolution on Iran will not be swift or biting as it has been with North Korea," he said, noting that while Pyongyang openly affirmed its nuclear weapons intentions, Tehran insisted its programme was peaceful. There was no conclusive proof it sought an atom bomb, he said. Solana, who negotiated with Iranian national security chief Ali Larijani in a vain effort to persuade Tehran to suspend its most sensitive nuclear work, said he had spoken by telephone with Larijani on Monday and the door would remain open. "I think there is always hope, and I would like it to be possible to start again, but it is up to Iran now to accept the conditions to start real negotiations," he said. In a statement, the ministers expressed deep concern that Iran had not yet suspended enrichment activities and said the EU has no choice but to support consultations in the United Nations on measures on the basis of resolution 1696, which told Iran to suspend enrichment by August 31 or face sanctions. Russia and China have so far been reticent about any sanctions, but a European diplomat said they had accepted the principle of an incremental approach raising pressure. In Vienna, a senior diplomat familiar with International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring in Iran said Iranian efforts to develop its enrichment programme beyond the initial test phase appeared slow. Iran had planned to have a second cascade of 164 centrifuge enrichment machines running by end-September but this had not happened, he said, while the first cascade was only being sporadically fed with uranium UF-6 gas for enrichment into fuel. Analysts have estimated Iran will need 3-10 years to produce enough fuel for bombs.

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Home Front: Politix

Mexico May Take Fence Dispute to U.N.

2006-10-10

Mexico's foreign secretary said Monday the country may take a dispute over U.S. plans to build a fence on the Mexican border to the United Nations. Cause, you know, the UN has soverignty over the United States..... Luis Ernesto Derbez told reporters in Paris, his first stop on a European tour, that a legal investigation was under way to determine whether Mexico has a case. The Mexican government last week sent a diplomatic note to Washington criticizing the plan for 700 miles of new fencing along the border. President-elect Felipe Calderon also denounced the plan, but said it was a bilateral issue that should not be put before the international community. Derbez said Monday after meeting with French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy that it was a "shame" U.S. immigration policy had been used for what he claimed was a short-term political gain in the lead-up to midterm elections in the U.S. in November. Yeah... France is a prime example of immigration policy. Did you ask him about he muslim riots? He said he discussed the issue with Douste-Blazy, and planned to bring it up in meetings with his Spanish and Italian counterparts during visits to Madrid and Rome. He vowed to work on the case until the "very last day" of President Vicente Fox's term, which ends Dec. 1. Axiom often metioned at my job: You can do anything you want - on your last day of work. The U.S. Senate approved the border fence bill last month and President Bush has said he will sign it into law _ despite last-minute pleas from the Mexican government for a veto.

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Home Front: Culture Wars

Mexico may take fence dispute to U.N.

2006-10-09

The UN? Hold me Ethel! From Paris, lol. YJCMTSU. PARIS - Mexico's foreign secretary said Monday the country may take a dispute over U.S. plans to build a fence on the Mexican border to the United Nations. Luis Ernesto Derbez told reporters in Paris, his first stop on a European tour, that a legal investigation was under way to determine whether Mexico has a case. The Mexican government last week sent a diplomatic note to Washington criticizing the plan for 700 miles of new fencing along the border. President-elect Felipe Calderon also denounced the plan, but said it was a bilateral issue that should not be put before the international community. Derbez said Monday after meeting with French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy that it was a "shame" U.S. immigration policy had been used for what he claimed was a short-term political gain in the lead-up to midterm elections in the U.S. in November. He said he discussed the issue with Douste-Blazy, and planned to bring it up in meetings with his Spanish and Italian counterparts during visits to Madrid and Rome. He vowed to work on the case until the "very last day" of President Vicente Fox's term, which ends Dec. 1. The U.S. Senate approved the border fence bill last month and President Bush has said he will sign it into law - despite last-minute pleas from the Mexican government for a veto. "What should be constructed is a bridge in relations between the two countries," Derbez said. Parroting CF's (?) great line: The nerve we have!

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Europe

Spain to Boost Participation in Airbus

2006-10-06

NEW YORK (AP) -- Spain is set to boost its participation in the France-based Airbus project, with an eye to a larger stake in the A380 superjumbo and in designing future generations of aircraft, the two countries' foreign ministers said Thursday. "Spanish industry is very important for Airbus and Spain aims to boost its participation in Airbus," said French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy at a press conference. Spain reportedly hopes to increase its 5.5 percent stake in European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) to 10 percent. The French minister said that Airbus was the largest industrial cooperation project in Europe and it hoped to begin researching "tomorrow's aircraft" with increased Spanish participation. Spanish Prime Minster Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and French President Jacques Chirac are to meet on Nov. 16 in the northeast Spain city of Gerona to discuss bilateral issues, the ministers said.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

France says Iran seeking to divide international community

2006-09-15

PARIS: Iran is trying to divide the international community in order to pursue its contested nuclear activities, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy warned in comments released on Thursday. "If the international community were to become divided, Iran would continue" its uranium enrichment activities, Douste-Blazy charged in an interview to appear in the French weekly Valeurs Actuelles. "That is what some in Tehran are waiting for, in order to call into question the system of non-proliferation," he said. Douste-Blazy called for a sustained effort to engage Tehran in a dialogue over the stand-off and warned against moving towards confrontation with the Islamic republic. "While pursuing consultations on the adoption of a new resolution (at the UN Security Council), we need to maintain dialogue with Tehran," he said. "If one or two of the permanent members of the Security Council fail to uphold this dialogue, and there is a growing drive - on either side - towards confrontation, the international community would split."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

France expects sanctions to soften Iran

2006-09-11

ABU DHABI: French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Sunday that Iran would likely change tactics on its nuclear programme for fear that sanctions might spark a domestic backlash. "Discontent among the Iranian people over the prospect of sanctions could make the regime change tack," Douste-Blazy said in Abu Dhabi as he wrapped up a brief visit to the United Arab Emirates. "The regime may fear the reaction of its own public opinion," he told a joint news conference with his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan. "If it appreciated the risk of isolation hanging over the country, it would not be ready to pay the price of it," he added, stressing the importance to the Iranian regime of a negotiated settlement of the standoff over its nuclear programme. Iran said earlier said the question of it suspending uranium enrichment as demanded by the international community was a "thing of the past".

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