PARIS: Annoyed over publication in two British newspapers this week of “revelations” said to be based on documents found in the files of the Iraqi foreign ministry in Baghdad, the Quai d’Orsay has expressed its “indignation” over stories that allege the existence of a special collusive relationship between France and Iraq, and detail French efforts to block a meeting in Paris by Iraqi opponents to the regime of Saddam Hussein.
At the daily press briefing here foreign ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau told reporters “since you pose the question, let me tell you that I’m evidently indignant. The foreign minister (Dominique de Villepin), expressed himself on the subject, saying that he accords no credit to the information. I would hope that we can stop dealing in rumours and gossip and concentrate on the essential.”
Mrs Michele Alliot-Marie, the French defence minister, characterised the “revelations” in the Sunday Times and Daily Telegraph as “totally ridiculous.”
The report was published in the Daily Telegraph, and claimed that an informer for the Iraqi foreign ministry, an Iraqi woman journalist based in Paris, had close ties with the Quai d’Orsay deputy press spokesman, Bernard Valero.
The Daily Telegraph story said that on the basis of the “documents” said to have been found in the files of the Iraqi foreign ministry, that France had, in the spring of 2000, opposed the holding in Paris of a meeting of the Iraqi opposition. The spokesman said that as far as he could remember, “that meeting did effectively take place in Paris,” but noted that “it was a private affair.”
“This affair is a political matter,” continued Mr Rivasseau, noting that the stories were “surprising”, because France had the right to refuse visas, but decided to allow the meeting to go ahead and to authorize Iraqi opposition figures to make their way to Paris to attend it.
“The British press insinuates that we refused the visas, when in fact, we didn’t.”
Commenting on France’s circumspect attitude to such news stories published recently in Great Britain and in the United States, in newspapers belonging to News Corp, the multinational media empire belonging to Rupert Murdoch, Mr Rivasseau noted that “we don’t have the habit of replying to press gossip.”
When pressed by journalists as to whether France might want to react to “the racist and xenophobic stories against the French being circulated by Rupert Murdoch,” all that Mr Rivasseau would say was that “it’s not up to me to comment on activities relating to freedom of the press, but your question certainly reflects an important point of view shared by many journalists.”