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| Europe |
| Strict pecking order at Paris summit |
| 2003-02-22 |
| By Mark Doyle BBC correspondent, Paris I was watching a procession of French limousines disgorging a procession of African presidents when I noticed that a colleague of mine, a veteran observer of summits, had started compiling a list of how many kisses each visiting president was getting from Jacques Chirac. You can tell a lot from body language, he explained, especially French body language. I started studying President Chirac more closely and realised my friend was right. Most of the African leaders got three kisses - French-style, right cheek, nod, left cheek, nod, right. But some of them only got two and some got four. There was, literally, a pecking order. Read on. It gets better... Up for four kisses were special friends of France or countries that for one reason or another fitted the French view of the world. The presidents of the West African states of Senegal and Ghana got the full four kisses each. Both countries have recently held thoroughly democratic elections. The theory did not hold good all the way. The king of Morocco got four pecks and a firm squeeze of the shoulders. The royal dynasty is not renowned for its democratic tendencies, but is a friend of France. It's fellow royalty, y'know... Further down the scale the leader of Equatorial Guinea only got two kisses. Perhaps one was taken off for human rights abuses and one off for bad governance? We shall never know. Oh, sure we will. Just look it up: President Teodoro Obiang Nguema was reelected on Sunday [last December] to head Equatorial Guinea for another seven years, amid accusations of fraud by the opposition. In fact opposition candidates withdrew from the elections citing severe flaws, such as intimidation and voters being forced to show their ballots before putting them in the urns.See? Jacques doesn't need anything from them, so he can notice the smell. But the body language between the French leader and his counterpart from the central African state of Rwanda was unmistakable. The two men are both tall, very tall, and when they approached each other they stood ramrod straight and shook hands stiffly - and no kisses at all. Kinda like meeting the ex-wife socially... But there was worse to come in the body language stakes. The most controversial guest in Paris was President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. The official French line was that it's better to talk face-to-face about human rights abuses than to sweep them under the carpet. There are some more cynical explanations doing the rounds. Like speculation that France checked out Zimbabwe's appalling diplomatic relations with Britain and decided to step in for whatever political and economic advantage it could grab. No! Really? Jacques would do that? But having Mr Mugabe here was one thing. Being filmed on French television in Mr Mugabe's company is a bit more touchy. France after all, is the land of liberty and fraternity, neither of which are in strong supply in Zimbabwe, and French voters could, potentially, spot the contradiction. Not to mention a few Brit photographers who'd be happy to snap some pix of the buss and then have lotsa fun Photoshopping them... The solution - body language again. Mr Chirac's right hand shook Mr Mugabe's, but in a limp sort of way, and the Frenchman held his head back. No question of any kisses at all. ... much less a sharing of tongues... The body language was completed by Mr Chirac using his left hand to usher Mr Mugabe along, out of camera-shot, as soon as possible. This was masterful diplomatic stuff. President Chirac wasn't exactly rude, but he wasn't exactly welcoming either. He somehow got two messages out at once. The first message was for France - we're concerned about the human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. The second message was for Africa - we are ready to talk. And it turned out that the second message was crucial to the main purpose of holding this Franco-African summit which was to become clear later in the day, namely, diplomacy over Iraq. Ahah! Who'da guessed that? A common statement emerged from the summit, via the French organisers, saying that all the participants agreed with - you've got it - the French position on Iraq. Support the weapons inspectors, urge Iraq to co-operate fully and actively, use force only as a last resort. There is, the declaration concluded, an alternative to war. Which is, of course, talk. And kisses... By chance three of the countries present in Paris - Angola, Guinea and Cameroon - are currently on the UN Security Council, and their votes could be crucial if and when a second UN resolution is sought. But the overall message was music to Chirac's ears - Africa agrees with France. Or that they expect to get some taxpayers' francs shoved into their pockets... Of course, all this talking and summitry and body language could easily be overtaken by military action. But no-one can say France hasn't been active in kissing its way along the diplomatic path. But no tongues! |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 Speaking of kisses, did you see the warm embrace and cheek kisses that ElBaradei of the IAEA and Khatami of Iran gave each other when Mohammed went there to "inspect" their nukes (prolly to make sure they work)? |
| Posted by: Jennie Taliaferro 2003-02-23 01:03:54 |