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### Viewing cable 06PARIS2242, VISIT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES FROM MARCH 1 TO

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
06PARIS2242 | 2006-04-05 15:03 | 2010-11-30 16:04 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Embassy Paris

`

    VZCZCXRO3289
    RR RUEHAG RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ
    RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
    DE RUEHFR #2242/01 0951517
    ZNR UUUUU ZZH
    R 051517Z APR 06
    FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6002
    RUEAWJA/DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
    INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

` `

    UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PARIS 002242

    SIPDIS

    DOJ PLEASE PASS TO OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL, CRIMINAL
    DIVISION (FRONT OFFICE, COUNTER-TERRORISM SECTION, OFFICE OF INTERNAT
    AFFAIRS)

    SIPDIS

    SENSITIVE

    E.O. 12958: N/A
    TAGS: KJUS FR KJUS PREL PGOV KCRM PTER
    SUBJECT: VISIT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES FROM MARCH 1 TO
    4, 2006.

    REF: NONE

    ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales traveled to
    France from March 1 to 4, 2006. He met with Pierre de
    Bousquet de Florian, Director of the DST; Nicolas Sarkozy,
    Minister of the Interior; French Counter-terrorism
    Officials; Ron Noble, Secretary General of Interpol; Pascal
    Clement, Minister of Justice and a number of media and
    opinion maker representatives. The meetings were cordial
    and constructive and focused on counter-terrorism
    cooperation; with the Attorney General expressing
    appreciation to his counterparts for the excellent working
    relationship between France and the United States in this
    area; and his making a number of appearances with the media
    and opinion makers to explain to the French public the
    United States approach to combating terrorism. END SUMMARY.

    ¶2. (SBU) After a March 1 evening arrival, on March 2, the
    Attorney General met with Pierre de Bousquet de Florian,
    director of the DST, France's internal security service.
    Both the Attorney General and de Bousquet complimented US-
    French C/T cooperation, calling it "exceptional," and
    recognizing that both countries were fighting a common
    enemy, and both had experienced losses. France's C/T fight
    was led by intelligence agencies working in concert with
    the judiciary, said Bousquet. Although France did not
    pretend that its model could be applied elsewhere, it
    strongly believed that judiciary and police/intelligence
    services needed to cooperate closely in order to attack
    terrorist networks before they struck.

    ¶3. (SBU) In response to questions from the Attorney
    General concerning the DST's view of the evolving nature of
    the terrorist threat, de Bousquet expressed a concern that
    democracies not compromise their essential values in
    combating terrorism as this could weaken the foundation of
    their societies. Most important, said Bousquet, was to win
    the battle of communication. Videos of USG actions were a
    continuing source of motivation and repulsion for
    extremists. Although USG communication regarding terrorism
    was focused on convincing its citizens, images of abuses in
    Iraq and the messages of the USG as received overseas both
    rebounded negatively overseas and encouraged Muslim youth
    to join extremist movements, said Bousquet.

    ¶4. (SBU) Bousquet said France was most concerned about
    the worldwide upsurge of radical Islam. For this reason,
    the GOF was building a "French Islam" a moderate Islam
    that worked within the French culture. All those who
    refuse to participate in this system would have no place in
    French society, said Bousquet. He believed that the next
    generation of terrorists would be born and well-integrated
    into French society, since well-educated and integrated
    French Muslims were already beginning to be seen in
    jihadist circles. He called for continued close
    coordination between intelligence and police agencies, and
    asked that the Attorney General look into streamlining
    current procedure for passing telephone and Internet
    communication details based in the United States and needed
    for investigations in France.

    ¶5. (SBU) The Attorney General also met Minister of the
    Interior Sarkozy. Also present for the Ministry of the
    Interior were Diplomatic Advisor David Martinon, Legal
    Advisor Sylvie Smanniotto, and DST Director de Bousquet de
    Florian. Sarkozy complained that the Ministry of the
    Interior felt cooperation in terrorism matters with the
    United States were one sided. He declined to give further
    specifics Attorney General Gonzales stated that if Sarkozy
    had a specific complaint, he should feel free to call him
    directly. [Note: Subsequent discussion with de Bousquet
    and Sarkozy's staff yielded apologies and assurances that
    GOF-USG CT cooperation is, and is seen as, good.]

    ¶6. (SBU) Sarkozy also signaled that he was under pressure
    to remedy the current inability of France to produce
    biometric visas in conformity with recent U.S. legislation,
    so as to participate in the visa waiver program. [Note:
    Septel on recent biometric passport developments.]

    ¶7. (SBU) Sarkozy also discussed general geopolitical
    issues concerning France and the United States. He
    believed France should not be in an adversarial posture
    with the U.S. and should change its approach. The U.S. is
    an important friend and ally of France, the level of

    PARIS 00002242 002 OF 004

    convergence of interest is much greater than with major
    non-democratic powers like Russia or China. While he was
    constrained by the current government's policies, he
    believed the situation would change after the election. He
    indicated he would travel to the U.S. to be able to tell
    the French public what his impressions were of the U.S. and
    that he would provide more detail on his positions as his
    run for the French presidency advanced. Sarkozy stated
    that France and the international community would have to
    help the United States resolve the situation in Iraq, as
    the U.S. could not do so alone; perhaps with international
    forces eventually replacing the U.S.

    ¶8. (SBU) On the morning of March 3, Ambassador Stapleton
    hosted a breakfast for the Attorney General and four key
    French counter-terrorism officials, counter-terrorism
    investigative judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, Prosecutor
    General of Paris Yves Bot, Prosecutor of Paris Jean-Claude
    Marin, and Director of the Criminal Division of the Justice
    Ministry Jean-Marie Huet. The Attorney General started the
    discussion by thanking the officials for their assistance
    and asked them for their assessment of the current counter-
    terrorism situation. Led by the commentaries of Judge
    Bruguiere, the officials noted the advantages they operated
    under, including their ability to protect the sources of
    intelligence information that they use in their
    investigations, the fact that they do not need to detail
    facts to the same extent as in the U.S. to arrest persons,
    or undertake searches and seizures or wiretaps, and the
    fact that there was no jury system, no formal rules on
    admissibility of evidence and no hearsay rule. There
    followed a general legal discussion on these aspects of the
    French system.

    ¶9. (SBU) Judge Bruguiere also outlined the two general
    threat trends France was experiencing: First, that French
    youth were being drawn into terrorist activities to a
    greater extent, reflecting that the threat was moving from
    East to West. Second, that the new terrorists were on an
    increasing level of sophistication and education. Recent
    arrests had demonstrated that highly educated electronics
    experts had been recruited by jihadist networks for
    purposes of executing attacks in Europe, and that they had
    developed highly sophisticated methods for detonating
    explosive charges at long distance.

    ¶10. (SBU) The Attorney General next met with Ron Noble,
    Secretary General of Interpol, on March 3. The discussion

    SIPDIS
    commenced with the Attorney General inquiring about the
    recent request for Interpol red notices made by Italy
    concerning the alleged abduction of an individual from
    Italy by USG officials. Noble advised that the procedure
    at this stage is for Interpol to review the requests to
    determine whether issuance of the red notices would be
    consistent with the Interpol Constitution, which prohibits
    Interpol from participating in political matters, or
    pursuing politically motivated requests.

    ¶11. (SBU) Noble also briefed the AG on a number of current
    issues, including a push to list with Interpol those al-
    Qaida and Taliban members on the UN sanctions list so that
    Interpol could generate a new kind of notice providing
    details on these persons to police in member states, and to
    facilitate wider contribution to and use of the Interpol
    database on lost or stolen passports. Regarding
    lost/stolen passports, a pilot project conducted between
    Interpol and the Swiss government demonstrated that the
    Interpol database could be used in real-time, leading to a
    marked increase in the seizures and prosecutions for those
    using false travel documents. He cited the example of one
    seized passport that had been in use since April 2003, had
    passed through 19 countries and had successfully gone
    through border controls 46 times without being caught.

    ¶12. (SBU) Noble requested that the Attorney General
    consider detailing a legal attach/prosecutor to Interpol
    headquarters, given the rise in legal issues in recent
    years. The Attorney General expressed concern that a DOJ
    prosecutor might have to address cases that would
    conceivably work against USG interests. Noble replied that
    the DOJ prosecutor would always have the option of recusing
    him/herself.

    ¶13. (U) Embassy Paris also organized three press events
    for Attorney General Gonzales on March 3: a print press

    PARIS 00002242 003 OF 004

    roundtable, an interview with Radio France Internationale,
    and an interview with French all-news channel LCI-TV.
    Major French newspapers as well as wire services Agence
    France Presse, Reuters, and Associated Press, attended his
    print press roundtable. The AG took numerous questions on
    Guantanamo and detainee treatment. He explained the
    differences between treatment of detainees on a battlefield
    and prisoners in the criminal justice system and
    underscored that the U.S. treats detainees humanely and in
    accord with Geneva even if they do not come under the
    Geneva Convention since they are unlawful combatants. Wire
    reports quoted AG Gonzales as saying: "The relationship
    between French and U.S. law enforcement is outstanding,"
    and, "Both countries share the common objective of
    preventing terrorist attacks." The press roundtable also
    triggered articles in center-left daily Libration
    (circulation: 158,086) and Catholic daily La Croix
    (circulation: 102,022). La Croix highlighted that, "Four
    years after 9/11, the determination of the U.S. government
    has not faltered when it comes to fighting against terror."

    ¶14. (U) Excerpts of his interview with the French
    worldwide broadcasting radio network Radio France
    Internationale (RFI-- similar to Voice of America) aired on
    March 3, and the interview was aired in full in RFI's
    weekly Wednesday, RFI English service program "Voices." In
    the radio interview, AG Gonzales was asked about the CIA
    flights controversy, and he emphasized that the U.S. is a
    nation of laws that respects its legal commitments.

    ¶15. (U) The all-news television network LCI featured the
    full interview in its "News of the World" program, which
    was re-broadcast three times the same evening. The
    Attorney General was asked about his visit to Paris, the
    use of death penalty in Texas when President Bush was
    governor -- AG referred to the due process of law accorded
    the prisoners, and the possible death penalty for Zacharias
    Moussaoui who, the AG said, has pleaded guilty and his
    sentence will be decided by the Court.

    ¶16. (SBU) The Attorney General met with French Justice
    Minister Pascal Clement on March 3. The two complimented
    U.S.-French cooperation as "very good" on terrorism and
    other legal matters. The Attorney General said Interior
    Minister Sarkozy had complained that counter-terrorism
    information sharing was not as robust as it could be, to
    which Clement responded that in his opinion, information
    sharing between U.S. and France was good. They compared
    notes on the different French and U.S. legal systems. The
    Attorney General reassured Clement that any information
    provided by France for the Moussaoui trial would not be
    used to support a death penalty conviction. He also
    invited Clement to the United States. Clement thanked the
    Attorney General and said he would be pleased to do so when
    their schedules permitted.

    ¶17. (SBU) Clement hailed the U.S. and France's mutual
    exchange of magistrates as a way to ward off any budding
    legal problems between the two countries. He said the lack
    of major problems to discuss was a fruit of this type of
    exchange. Clement asked the AG when the U.S. would ratify
    the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention, noting that
    France had recently done so. The AG stated that he hoped
    we would be able to overcome final Senate objections soon
    and get the treaty ratified. They also discussed a number
    of other issues, including the sex offenses, and
    psychiatric testimony, child abduction cases, and growing
    illegal drug use. At the conclusion of the meeting, the
    ministers had a walk-out for the press, in which they
    delivered statements regarding the issues discussed. The
    Clement statement included mention of the assurance
    provided by the U.S. that the evidence provided by France
    in the Moussaoui case would not be used to obtain the death
    penalty.

    ¶18. (U) This visit provided a good opportunity for Attorney
    General Gonzales to both meet in depth key French law
    enforcement officials, express U.S. appreciation for the
    strong cooperative law enforcement relationship between the
    two countries, as well as to explain the French public
    through his interviews the United States approach to
    combating terrorism. Ambassador Stapleton accompanied the
    Attorney General to all of his meetings. The Attorney
    General departed on March 4, 2006, for other meetings in
    the United Kingdom.

    PARIS 00002242 004 OF 004

    ¶19. (U) This message was approved by the Office of the Attorney
    General.

    STAPLETON

`