After
French
Ambassador
Quoted Morocco
is France's
"Mistress,"
Araud on
Acela?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 25 --
When a French
Ambassador in
the United
States
is quoted
calling
Morocco
France's
"mistress" in
the
context of
Western
Sahara, what
happens? Well,
previously
scheduled
meetings
between the
two countries
have been
postponed;
there is
renewed
speculation
that the
Ambassador may
leave his
post.
All
but one
account say
the ambassador
in question is
France's
ambassador
in Washington
Francois
Delattre; no
less than Le
Monde
put the
"mistress"
words in the
mouth of
France's
Ambassador
to the UN
Gerard Araud,
click here for
that.
The
Le
Monde
story is
ironic, both
because at the
UN in
September
Laurent Fabius
told a
reporter who
asked about
French killing
in Algeria
that he would
prefer to get
a question
from a "real"
journalists,
and
because of
Araud's recent
statements on
responsible
and
"micro-tabloid"
journalism.
Meanwhile
in
Paris,
Moroccan
diplomat
Abdellatif
Hammouchi was
served with
legal papers
relating to
alleged
torture in the
Temara
detention
center. If
that
relationship
seems to be
unraveling,
others ask: if
Morocco is
France's
mistress, what
are Mali and
the Central
African
Republic, or
even more
attenuated,
the Democratic
Republic of
the
Congo?
Morocco
loudly
criticized
the group
behind the
torture legal
papers, ACAT,
and that they
were served on
the
ambassador's
residence.
France seems
to have a
different
approach to claiming
immunity for
its diplomats
abroad,
including in
the United
States,
and others'
diplomats in
France. Click
here for Araud
on this.
Even
before this
flap, there were
reports from
Washington of
Delattre
leaving, and
renewed
speculation
about Araud
joining
another EU
counterpart in
a move (200
miles) south
to DC. On
Amtrak's Acela
express train
service,
when working,
it's fast.
For Araud, it
might be time:
he seems to
have caught
the Herve
Ladsous
syndrome,
of citing
articles he
doesn't
like and
refusing to
answer
critical
questions.
Will the
Morocco as
France's
mistress quote
speed the
spinning of
the wheel?
Watch this
site.
, 
