The Biggest Enchilada

Nicolas Sarkozy and Moammar Qadhafi have signed 10 BILLION euros worth of contracts, including, and especially, nuclear energy - the contract that was discussed but not finalized last summer when the Bulgarian nurses were liberated. Le Figaro reports on the first day of what will be a five-day sojourn in France for the Libyan leader.

The first paragraphs of the article describe the physical appearance of Qadhafi, compared with how he looked during previous visits. You will be interested to learn that today he was wearing a full brown cloak and sporting a goatee, shaved close, having abandoned the African boubous he once wore as a symbol of his desire to rule the continent. In 1974, when he was greeted by President Pompidou, he wore his short boots, and a belted suit over a turtle-neck, considered at the time as audacious.

The importance of what he wears escapes me, but apparently in the eyes of the media he is worthy of consideration as a fashion plate.

The article goes on:

The meeting lasted less than an hour. Money was the topic. The French president revealed, at a press meeting, that France was going to "sign 10 billion euros worth of contracts" with Libya. The equivalent, according to Elysée, of "30,000 jobs over a five-year period." These are exclusive negotiations between the two countries that will end July 1. The harvest will be significant: 4.5 billion in armaments, including 14 Rafale jets, 35 helicopters, artillery, 6 ships, tanks, radar and anti-aircraft defense, plus the upgrading of the Mirage F1 jets purchased by Libya in the 1970's. In the domain of civil aeronautics, Libya signed 21 orders for Airbus with an option for nine more. Also on the agenda was a "cooperation agreement" for the development of civil nuclear energy, anticipating the future construction of one or several nuclear reactors, for the purpose of sea water desalinization.
In the domain of BTP (buildings and public works), VINCI will participate in the construction of the new airport of Tripoli and cooperate with Libya on gas and electricity projects. A security agreement on the fight against terrorism was also signed, as well as several others: one was for cooperation between the Louvre and the Libyan archeological superintendence, another between the National Institute of Audiovisual (INA) and Libyan radio-television on matters relevant to archives. Finally the dispute between Libya and the Institute of the Arab World (IMA) in Paris has been resolved. Before announcing these contracts and these agreements, Nicolas Sarkozy had insisted that money and human rights had not be exchanged: "I told President Qadhafi how necessary it was to continue to advance on the road of human rights, and in all respects how much was still left to be done", declared Sarkozy.

For the French president, this is about steering the Libyan leader onto the right path. "France greets a head of State who has definitively renounced the possession of nuclear weapons, who decided to turn his stockpiles over to international organizations, who chose to renounce terrorism definitively and to indemnify victims," explained Sarkozy. "What would we say today to the Iranian leaders if we did not extend our hand to the Libyan leader who chose himself to turn his back on nuclear weapons and terrorism?" he added.

Note: this is the same fallacious logic that resulted in Anne-Lorraine's killer being released after serving his two years. It "looked as if" he would not try anything again. Sarkozy is assuming Qadhafi has "reformed", and he's assuming Iran will want to follow the role-model of the reformed Qadhafi. He needs an excuse to justify his deals. I'm not sure many people are really falling for this. He goes on:

"It was France that negotiated the liberation of the Bulgarian nurses, otherwise those unfortunate women would still be in prison." Nicolas Sarkozy then lambasted those who try to "teach lessons" about human rights, "while having a cup of coffee on the Boulevard Saint-Germain", an allusion to the philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, who has been very critical of Qadhafi's visit.

Note: If it's Sarko v. BHL it's really a toss up as to which one is more of an impostor.

The article ends with a reminder that the families of the 170 victims of the DC 10 jet that exploded in September 1989, an attack attributed to Qadhafi, intend to ask Sarkozy for his support. Many of them find it unbearable that Qadhafi is in Paris, though they don't question the motives of the meeting.

Last, but not least, the two leaders dined together Monday evening.

The rather comical photo of the two is from Le Figaro.