L'Humanite, France

Sarkozy in the Footsteps of Bush

By Hassane Zerrouky

January 14, 2008

France - L'Humanite - Original Article (French)

Saudi Arabia. The French president will try to forget the policy of his predecessors and to demonstrate that his approach is not quite that of Washington.

Riyadh, special envoy.

Random timetable or happy coincidence: George Bush will arrive in Saudi Arabia Monday two hours after the end of the visit of Nicolas Sarkozy, who arrived yesterday in the late afternoon. The Élysée said that no meeting is planned between the two heads of state. The fact remains that his tour - the first since coming to power - Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, on the same dates as those of the American president, has caused something of a quandary at the Élysée: almost crossing the path of his American counterpart by a few hours near, could give the image of a president whose boots is glued to the head of the White House. Especially since, for the United States, this region which, along with Iran holds 60% of world oil reserves, is a vital strategic interest.

Priority ties with Washington

If the relationship between Americans and Saudis are no longer what they were in the past, and for reasons related to the long history of US-Saudi relations, ties with Washington remain a priority for Riyadh, there nevertheless remains (from the time of the Presidency of Jacques Chirac) a general agreement between Saudi Arabia and France on several strategic projects. As a result, the visit of Nicolas Sarkozy raises some questions whether or not Paris will maintain a policy independent of Washington or whether the French president, who has made a dramatic rapprochement with his American counterpart, will align his approach to the situation in the Near and Middle East with that of Bush. Here, some voices criticize the French President for his over-zealous pro-Americanism. His speech to the American Congress, where he extolled "the greatness of America," was frowned upon in the region. Although the Saudis refrain from speaking up publicly, they have the feeling that France is in the process of moving away from what had been the strength of its diplomacy: making a difference with the United States with respect to the process of Israeli-Palestinian peace and Iraq.

French Policy toward the Arab Middle East

Also surprising is the fact that on the eve of his arrival, the Saudi press and some authoritative voices have liked to recall that Jacques Chirac had taken a position against the accusations of US neoconservatives on the involvement of Saudi Arabia in the attacks September 11, 2001. Better still, they stress that the two countries, which are linked by a strategic partnership signed in 1996, had objected in 2003 to US intervention in Iraq, and that Paris was considered dangerous to the American Greater Middle East and had made the choice to support the political reforms undertaken by King Abdullah. Another area of convergence highlighted by the Saudis, was the support of Jacques Chirac at the Arab peace conference in Beirut in 2002, for the settlement of the Israeli-Arab crisis. "The World”, summarizes the daily Arab News, quoting official sources, “listens to France because it has one fair and equitable vote," meaning that Sarkozy is asked not to change his line!

The French president, who has set a priority objective of "the rethinking and reconstructing the bilateral relationship," intends to turn the page of Chirac, seen here as a "friend", or try to affect a line which some regard as a progressive alignment with that of Bush. In addition to the Palestinian problem and Iraq, Iran will be on the menu of the Franco-Saudi talks. The Saudis, who, they say, have the firm intention to inform the American president of their strong opposition to any military action against Iran, will not fail to inform Nicolas Sarkozy, who has not ruled out the possibility of a military intervention against Tehran if the latter does not abandon its nuclear programme.

In a region where France wants to revitalize trade relations and assert its political presence - it is only the seventh largest provider of goods to Riyadh (1.8 billion euros of exports) - Nicolas Sarkozy will have a hard time forgetting the policy of his predecessors, to persuade Arab opinion, which is more than suspicious to him, and to implement a normalization of Franco-Saudi relations, more oriented toward trade policy that, and thus, it has to be said, a policy not quite in line with that of Bush. We will know some more at the time of the speech that will be given this Monday in front of the Saudi advisory Council