Nukes for Arabs: The French are at it again

How nice that Libyan dicator Muammar Gaddafi (Qadaffi, Kaddafi etc.) agreed to release some Palestinian and Bulgarian doctors accused of giving people AIDS, instead of killing them. A great diplomatic achievement for which France is taking the credit. Vive La France. Vive Sarkozy and his much-touted Jewish ancestry.

 

Un moment s'il vou plait!  Before you start cheering, please look at the fine print. There are  a number of flies in this fine wine. According to AFP:

 

He [Sarkozy] and his wife, however, were accused in the European press of stealing the credit after EU negotiator Benita Ferrero-Waldner had done much of the hard bargaining.

 

Well OK, that's not too bad. AFP continues however:

 

Britain's Times newspaper pointed out that the release of the medics was likely to lead to "lucrative contracts for French companies with the oil-rich African state."

 

We can live with that. Who doesn't want to make some money, after all. But the real story is here:

 

France and Libya on Wednesday inked a deal on the building of a nuclear reactor for water desalination during talks between Libyan leader Muammer Qaddafi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a day after the release of six foreign medics.

 

Sarkozy had touted his visit of less than 24 hours as a "political trip" to help Libya's reintegration into the international community after decades of sanctions and isolation.

 

Soon after his late afternoon arrival in Tripoli, Sarkozy and his delegation including French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner were accorded an official welcome at Qaddafi's Bab Azizia palace.

 

It seems that the good will of Colonel/President Daffy Qaddafi was purchased at a price. After the US did all that good work to stop Libya's nuclear project, M. Sarkozy and M. Kouchner, those darling part Jews who were so widely touted as future friends of Israel, are going to build a "desalination" reactor for the Libyans, presumably not too different from the one the French built for Mr. Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

 

M. Qaddafi, to be sure, is known throughout the Middle East as an extremist psychopath. Consider please for a moment, what it must mean to earn such a reputation in the Middle East. Compared to Qaddafi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a sober and conservative international statesman, and Saddam Hussein was a realist and benefactor of humanity. Here is just a bit of what Wikipedia tells us about France's new ally:

 

Throughout the 1970s, his regime was implicated in subversion and terrorist activities in both Arab and non-Arab countries. By the mid-1980s, he was widely regarded in the West as the principal financier of international terrorism. Reportedly, Gaddafi was a major financier of the "Black September Movement" which perpetrated the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics, and was accused by the United States of being responsible for direct control of the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing that killed three people and wounded more than 200, of whom a substantial number were U.S. servicemen. He is also said to have paid "Carlos the Jackal" to kidnap and then release a number of the Saudi Arabian and Iranian oil ministers.

...

In 1984 British police constable Yvonne Fletcher was shot outside the Libyan Embassy in London while policing an anti-Gaddafi demonstration. A burst of machine-gun fire from within the building was suspected of killing her, but Libyan diplomats asserted their diplomatic immunity and were repatriated. The incident led to the breaking-off of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Libya for over a decade.

 

They say however, that he has reformed in his old age.

 

The French of course, did this in style and with the greatest finesse and good humor, as might be expected of the French:

 

Asked if the deals had been linked to the release of the the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian-born doctor, Gueant [aide to Sarkozy] replied, "No, not at all."

Remember when all the Zionists were praising M. Sarkozy? I wrote then: Sarkozy will disappoint Israel  and  Sarkozy is not a panacea for Israel . I would rather have been wrong. Quel dommage! mais c'est la vie.      

 

Cela n'importe rien. It doesn't matter. Israeli F-16s can easily reach Libya, especially if the reactor will be located near the sea. Perhaps M. Sarkozy intends to prepare target practice for the Israeli Air Force.

 

Ami Isseroff

Continued (Permanent Link)

France will "cooperate" with Palestinian unity government

The article says less than the headline. France did not pledge to break the quartet embargo and free up funds for the Hamas-led government. They seemed however, to be indicating that they would try to do so.

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France pledges to back PA unity government
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3369126,00.html
Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy promises to work with Hamas-Fatah cabinet, but makes no commitment to free up aid for Palestinian Authority; ‘I encouraged Abbas to persevere in his efforts to quickly form national unity government,’ he says

Associated Press Published: 02.24.07, 22:32 / Israel News


France pledged Saturday to cooperate with a coalition Palestinian government that would include the militant Hamas, in a key boost for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

But Abbas’ European tour failed to make headway on resuming aid for his struggling people. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy’s promise to work with a government including Hamas and the moderate Fatah party was the bright spot in Abbas’ four-country swing through Europe this week. PA Leader

Other European leaders were more cautious, preferring to wait until the government is formed before making any commitments. “I encouraged Mr. Abbas to persevere in his efforts to quickly form a national unity government,” Douste-Blazy told reporters Saturday evening as Abbas wrapped up his trip.

If the government is formed according to the power-sharing deal worked out in Mecca last month, Douste-Blazy said, “France will be ready to cooperate with it. And our country will plead on its behalf within the European Union and with other partners in the international community.”

Abbas welcomed the pledge - yet it may mean little. It was unclear how far France could go in supporting the Palestinians without the backing of the rest of the EU or other members of the Quartet working for Mideast peace: the United States, the United Nations and Russia.
Douste-Blazy made no commitments on freeing up aid that is key to the Palestinians’ future. Half of the Palestinian Authority’s budget came from foreign assistance until much of it was frozen following Hamas election victory a year ago. The EU, US and Israel consider Hamas a terrorist organization.

Throughout Abbas’ trip, Europe’s governments remained firm: Any new coalition government must recognize Israel before aid can flow again.

Abbas made a last push Saturday in talks in Paris. The Palestinian leader traveled to London, Berlin and Brussels before coming to France.

“We hope that the embargo will be lifted,” Abbas said after meeting French President Jacques Chirac. “If not, all we can undertake would be useless ... And the Palestinian people would continue to suffer and the sanctions would continue to cause damage.”

European leaders cautiously welcomed the power-sharing deal between Hamas and Fatah, an effort to halt clashes between the two that have left more than 130 dead since May. The calm that accompanied the deal appeared threatened, however, by shootings late Friday and early Saturday that killed four and wounded 37.

The power-sharing deal has stymied Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, since Israel has ruled out talks on a final peace deal with Abbas if he goes ahead with plans for a coalition with Hamas.


'Very important crossroads'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, insisted after meeting Abbas that a new unity government must recognize Israel if direct international aid is to be resumed.
EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana told Abbas in Brussels that the union will not make a decision on aid until a new Palestinian government has taken office. The EU has said the funds will only be paid if the new government is committed to peace with Israel.
A senior Hamas official, parliament speaker Ahmed Baher, said in Gaza on Saturday that the government would be formed by the first week of March.
The power-sharing deal reached in Mecca earlier this month skirts the key demands of the Quartet that any new government must give up violence, recognize Israel and accept existing agreements reached with Israel.
Abbas insisted he still had hope in the Middle East peace process despite an inconclusive and awkward meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier this week.

“We cannot say that there is something hopeless. It is indispensable that we reach agreement with the Israelis,” he told reporters Saturday in Paris.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II cautioned in a TV interview released Saturday that time to clinch an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal was running out. ”This is a critical time for people to make up their minds,” Abdullah told Jordan’s Channel 2 TV.
“We find ourselves at this very important crossroads ... That I do feel really is the last opportunity for peace for all of us.”
Abbas also said he would push for the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit before the new government is formed. Shalit’s capture by Palestinian militants last June sparked weeks of fighting between Palestinians and Israelis. Chirac and Douste-Blazy urged his release again Saturday.

Continued (Permanent Link)