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Europe
French FM non-committal to blacklisting Hizbullah
2005-02-09
Israel found no ally in France Monday in its efforts to get Hizbullah placed on the European Union's list of terror organizations, diplomatic officials said. Both Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres warned visiting French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier in separate meetings about Hizbullah's attempts to thwart Israeli-Palestinian progress. "Just as Hizbullah destroyed Lebanon, it is also trying in any way possible, including the use of extremist Palestinian elements, to destroy Israel as a Jewish state," Peres said.

In recent weeks Israel has been intensively lobbying the EU countries to place Hizbullah on its blacklist, arguing that the organization is doing everything it can to undermine Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and carry out terror attacks in Israel in an attempt to thwart Israeli—Palestinian progress. Security officials in recent days have warned both of a Hizbullah attempt to assassinate Abbas and to carry out a major terrorist attack prior to Tuesday's summit in Sharm e-Sheikh. Shalom said that France supported UN Security Council resolution 1559 that called for militias in Lebanon to be dismantled, arguing that Hizbullah is one of those militias. One diplomatic source said that Barnier listened to the arguments, repeated France's traditional line that Hizbullah has a parliamentary faction inside Lebanon, and remained non-committal regarding a possible change in France's position on the issue.
Posted by:Fred

#9  Syria and Lebanon were French League of Nations Mandate countries, just as Iraq and Palestine (Trans Jordan + Israel) were England's. Like all of France's former colonies, La Belle France maintains a proprietary interest in all their doings.
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-02-09 6:43:54 PM  

#8  Chirac is big buddies with prominent Lebanese, such as Rafic Hariri. I think he's no longer PM, but has TV stations etc. Hariri was protected by/protected Syrians. Conclusion: French want Hizbullah around as the ultimate bargaining chip that can be discarded once Syrian military leaves Lebanon due to pressure from the Leb "street". French version of "stability" will remain in Levant.
Posted by: chicago mike   2005-02-09 5:03:38 PM  

#7  It's not clear to me. France chooses to support Hizbullah and thus Syria (as the actual host in Lebanon) and Iran. Why this is in France's interest? I don't know. I can't see it. France will give lip service to changes in Lebanon but for some reason will not stand behind what seems to be it's own UNSC resolution. Why?

Depriving Hizbullah of a place to launch attacks from and also cause grief in the hopeful looking PA/Israel negations is a good thing. A calmer relationship between the PA and Israel is a good thing. (It might even be helpful in French domestic affairs) The not so hidden hands of Iran and now France is “not helpful” in the ongoing talks between the PA and Israel. France has to know that. I can't see how France supporting Hizbullah is a sane thing. We know Iran will do everything to disrupt what could be a watershed agreement that would cool down the tension in the ME quite a bit. What does France gain?
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2005-02-09 2:26:14 PM  

#6  Watching France's "diplomatic stance" (treating Hizbollah as a worthy partner in diplomatic circles) is kinda like watching a human eat dog food--what else can you conclude other than 1)they are completely desperate or 2)they will eat anything, even garbage.

This is one more area where we have NO COMMON GROUND with France. Terrorists do not deserve to sit at any table. Chew and swallow that gruel well, France-otherwise you might choke when you find there are human bones and pulp in that stew.
Posted by: Jules 187   2005-02-09 11:34:31 AM  

#5  Shalom said that France supported UN Security Council resolution 1559 that called for militias in Lebanon to be dismantled, arguing that Hizbullah is one of those militias.

Somehow, I'm fairly confident that had 1559 been something that even remotely referred to the "militias" in Lebanon as terrorist organizations, Phrance would have vigorously opposed it.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2005-02-09 11:27:31 AM  

#4  Syria lets Hizb stay there cause Syria relies on Iran for support, and Hizb is the Iranian arm in the region.

And yes, I think dot com is right, the Iranians are trying to undermine Abbas cause they think theres a chance the peace process might succeed, at least in the short to medium run, and thats VERY bad news for them - it eases tensions between the US and arab states, it eases tensions between the US and Europe - the very tensions Iran was counting in its confrontation with the US.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2005-02-09 10:03:57 AM  

#3  Hizbullah has a parliamentary faction inside Lebanon only because Lebanon is a f*cking colony of Syria who lets Hizb stay there because they kill jooos.
Posted by: Spot   2005-02-09 9:31:19 AM  

#2  All of the above, I suspect.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2005-02-09 9:17:18 AM  

#1  The interesting thing, to me, isn't that France will continue to be assholes, but that if Hizbullah wants to hit Abbas - does that mean the Mad Mullahs believe he might actually be able to stabilize the situation? That they don't want stability is nothing new, but do they think Abbas can bring it about? Or are they just keeping the pot boiling - and would try to hit whomever was in Abbas's position, now that the ally icon Arafart is dead?

Anyone have observations on this?
Posted by: .com   2005-02-09 6:31:19 AM  

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