Daily press briefing by Ministry Deputy Spokesperson

The navy frigate "Ventôse", equipped with a reconnaissance helicopter, reached Santo Domingo this evening and is heading to Port-au-Prince, which it should reach tomorrow. It will help survey the relevant areas in order to take stock of the disaster and steer relief to the hardest hit regions.

There are already plans to ship pre-stocked humanitarian relief supplies from Martinique once that assessment has been completed.

Initial estimates put the number of people who have suffered damages or been displaced in the Gonaïves area at 300,000.

INDIA/FLOODING

France expresses her deep sympathy to the people of the eastern Indian State of Bihar, which has suffered dramatic flooding.

As a concrete demonstration of her solidarity, France has decided to grant a €100,000 subsidy to the French NGO "ACTED" to respond to the emergency created by recent flooding in Bihar province. This subsidy will help 2,000 families for four months, providing emergency food aid, water and sanitation, health care and emergency shelter.

The European Commission also announced that it was mobilizing the ECHO programme, which plans to allocate €1 million in aid to the affected population, plus an additional million for Tibetan refugees in the region who are affected by the situation.

Q. - Will European aid also go to NGOs or to the government?

It will go essentially to NGOs - OXFAM, Save the Children, CARE, etc., - but also to UN institutions such as UNICEF.

Q. - Does that demonstrate a lack of trust in the authorities?

Absolutely not. All this is obviously being done in close coordination with the authorities in Bihar, but you will note that the Indian central government has not issued a call for international aid. That call came from provincial authorities, and so in liaison with those provincial authorities and the NGOs working on the ground with their agreement and cooperation, we are allocating these subsidies and this aid.

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FRANCE/RUSSIA

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You know that an extraordinary European Council meeting was held on Monday in Brussels, and that it concluded with a mandate to the President of the Republic to travel to Moscow and Tbilisi. He will be accompanied by Bernard Kouchner as well as the President of the European Commission and the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

The main purpose of this trip and these discussions is the implementation of the six-point plan, and more particularly, the immediate withdrawal of all Russian military forces to the lines they held before this conflict broke out.

The second point to be discussed is the international monitoring mechanism provided in point five of the six-point plan, and then work must begin on the prospects for international discussions on the modalities for security and stability in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, per another important point - point six of the agreement.

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Several initiatives and projects have been proposed: first, an international conference on the reconstruction of Georgia. There’s also a Turkish initiative on stability in the Black Sea region, for which we expressed our support and which will no doubt be discussed with Mr Babacan tomorrow morning in Avignon (…)

Q. - In what forum will the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia be discussed?

Within the framework of international discussions. The format hasn’t yet been decided. That’s the whole point of the discussions we’re having with the Russians, the Georgians, our European and American partners, and the OSCE and the UN.

The format will have to be defined in an ad hoc way.

Q. - But is it included in the third point you mentioned among the three points to be discussed?

The six-point plan provides for international discussions on security and stability. That is what we’re going to talk about in Moscow and Tbilisi without having predetermined the format of these international discussions.

FRANCE/SYRIA/MIDDLE EAST

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You obviously know that we strongly support the process that has got under way between Syria and Israel with respect to indirect negotiations under the auspices of Turkey. The President of the Republic clearly reaffirmed that support during the past two days in Damascus. He expressed it to President Bashar al-Assad and during the four-party meeting held yesterday morning in Damascus with the Syrian President, who is the President-in-Office of the Arab League Summit; the Turkish Prime Minister, under whose auspices the indirect negotiations are being held; and the Emir of Qatar, who is the President-in-Office of the GCC, just as President Sarkozy is President-in-Office of the European Union.

Clear support has been demonstrated for this negotiating process.

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You also are aware that the Minister, who had to give up the Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian stages of his visit to the Middle East two weeks ago because of the Georgia crisis, intends to make those trips as soon as possible to complete his discussions on the Middle East situation.

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I can say that [the President’s] visit fulfilled a commitment taken on 12 July in Paris when he received President Bashar al-Assad, who had come for the Union for the Mediterranean summit.

This visit corresponds to our observation that Syria’s attitude has evolved in a positive way at the regional level, particularly with the normalization under way with Lebanon, the indirect talks with Israel, and also the fact that Bashar al-Assad agreed to convey to Iran a certain number of messages that we want to send Tehran. So it’s a new relationship that’s being built, both with a desire to deepen our bilateral cooperation, notably in the economic and cultural spheres, but also to obtain the confirmation and concretization of this new Syrian attitude in the various areas that I mentioned and to encourage this positive trend.

I would add that as the President himself stated, all areas of common interest were discussed, and the President notably raised the issue of human rights.

Q. - Does France have information that Israel is preparing a strike against Iran?

Like you, we have heard the statements that were made by a certain number of Israeli public figures and government officials both confirming and denying that assertion. You heard what the President said about this possibility: it must be avoided at all costs. You know how strongly he exhorted Iran to respond to the demands issued by the Security Council and the international community. (…) What we want is to avoid the choice of the Iranian bomb or bombing Iran. It would be a catastrophic choice, as the President has said.

Q. - The President mentioned differences between himself and President Assad. What are they?

I can talk to you about France’s positions. Bashar al-Assad expressed Syria’s positions during the press conference and other occasions. What I can tell you is that the President wanted Syria to commit to continuing on the path of normalization with Lebanon following the decisions that have already been taken, particularly the exchange of ambassadors within the announced time-frame. He also stressed other aspects of the Syrian-Lebanese relationship that are important to us, including the demarcation of the border and the revision of bilateral treaties.

With respect to Syrian-Israeli relations, as I said earlier, he expressed our willingness, in due time and if asked, to play a concrete role as French but also as Europeans in the conduct of these negotiations.

On the bilateral level, even though this wasn’t the focus of the President’s visit, which was essentially political, there was a desire to turn over a new leaf in our relationship, given the positive developments I mentioned. That would comprise a certain number of cooperative efforts, concrete demonstrations of both economic and cultural cooperation.

In the economic arena, you will have noted that an agreement was signed with Total, given that Chistophe de Margerie was accompanying the President. This is obviously an important development in our economic relationship. Additionally, on the occasion of the President’s visit, an agreement was signed that opens the way to the French Development Agency’s establishment of operations in Syria, which was previously not the case.

So we are laying the groundwork for a deepening of our bilateral relationship, notably on the economic and cultural levels, and I would add that the President also inaugurated the new French school in Damascus, the Lycée Charles de Gaulle, which is obviously an important symbol of the French-Syrian cultural and educational relationship.

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Q. - There are differences between certain European countries and France concerning relations with Syria. Can you talk about that?

You know that there’s an association agreement that was initialled in 2004 and remains to be signed. The question is what to do about it.

Do we sign a four-year-old document when things have obviously changed since, or do we start negotiating a new text that takes new realities into account?

What we want, in any case, is to adopt a framework for cooperation that allows us to revive the relationship between the EU and Syria. That is France’s wish, and we will have the opportunity to talk about it with our EU partners. I wouldn’t rule out such a discussion tomorrow during the Gymnich talks on the Middle East.

Q. - Could we say, after this visit, that France now fully trusts Syria to manage the three briefs you just mentioned? Don’t you feel just a little bit disappointed, because none of the Syrian President’s remarks bring anything new to the table with respect to what he said during his visit to Paris in July?

I would answer by saying that it depends on the area. The Syrian President may have repeated the things he had already said, but since July there have also been a certain number of concrete developments on the ground with regard to relations between Syria and Lebanon, the summit with President Suleiman, the establishment of diplomatic relations, and the confirmation of an exchange of ambassadors by the end of the year.

President Assad said that to Bernard Kouchner when he was in Damascus preparing the President’s visit.

With regard to all of these issues and all the various aspects of our relationship, our approach is constructive and committed but also vigilant, as the advances and progress we’ve seen remain to be confirmed and completed.

Q. - (…) Did President Assad convey our message to the Iranians, and if so, when?

Yes, as you know, when the President received President Assad in Paris on 12 July, he asked him to relay our concern and the need for Iran to rebuild trust and thus respond to the preoccupations of the international community and the 3+3 offer conveyed by Javier Solana.

Since then, the Syrian President has gone to Iran, where he had meetings, and he told us that he had conveyed our concerns.

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