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| Bedouin gone cosmopolitan: Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi has so far signed contracts worth $17.6 billion during his six-day
visit to France. Christophe Ena/Reuters |
Qaddafi visit roils France
Critics say President Sarkozy ignored Libya's dismal human rights record while pursuing $17.6 billion in business deals.
from the December 13, 2007 edition
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At the same time, the public side of its diplomacy has been infused with the idea that France has a particular role to play in the world as a militant defender of human rights. Sarkozy paid homage to that cherished self-image soon after his election in May, promising he would always side with those "persecuted by tyranny and dictatorships."
He has been an enthusiastic supporter of sanctions to force Iran to renounce its nuclear ambitions and of an international intervention force in Darfur. But his recent trips to China and Russia, which produced a slew of contracts for French companies like the nuclear-generator manufacturer Areva, were criticized for appearing to relegate human rights issues to the sidelines.
Sarkozy ministers critical of visit
His welcome of Qaddafi, who has ruled his country with an iron hand for 38 years, has provoked a similar response.
Along with many senior parliamentarians, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, a career human rights campaigner, was a no-show at the Qaddafi events in Paris. "By happy coincidence," he said, state business kept him away.
More dramatic was the reaction of Rama Yade, the junior minister for human rights who openly denounced Qaddafi Sunday, saying he "should not take France as a doormat for any leader, terrorist or not, to wipe from his feet the blood of his crimes."
But others in Sarkozy's camp were less vexed. Axel Poniatowski, the chairman of the foreign relations committee of the National Assembly, said it represented a break in French diplomatic style but not substance.
"Human rights are important to us and should remain in our policy," he added. "At the same time, we have to be pragmatic and Qaddafi's visit has produced large economic benefits."
The Libyan leader, who told the France 2 TV station that he didn't watch TV or read newspapers, seemed oblivious to the controversy. He also said Libya was not holding any political prisoners, a claim that has been rejected by Ms. Yade and human rights groups.
'Carrot' for Libya's progress
France is not unique in courting Qaddafi. The prime ministers of Britain and Italy were the first to travel to Tripoli after 2003, when Libya said it would abandon its nuclear weapons program and pay reparations to victims' families from two airliner bombings blamed on Libyan government agents. The US reestablished full diplomatic relations in 2006.
Sarkozy issued his invitation this past summer after Libya released Bulgarian medical workers who had been imprisoned on charges of infecting Libyan children with HIV. He said he then promised to escort Qaddafi "on the road to respectability" so long as the Libyan leader continued to change his ways, portraying his invitation as part of a carrot-and-stick policy.
Mr. Moïsi, like other French foreign policy experts, expressed discomfort with that approach. "Where was the stick?" he said. "Of course he freed the Bulgarian nurses, but should the fate of Bulgarian nurses determine the evolution of French foreign policy? It's sentimentalism, perhaps as an alibi for mercantilism."
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