YO HO, Chirac the Toad must go!
Iranian president Mohammad Khatami and
president Jacques Chirac of France
Posted on 02/21/2003 5:34:18 AM PST by kattracks
The lavish welcome laid in Paris for Zimbabwe's authoritarian President Robert Mugabe unleashed a storm of protest, with France accused of throwing away its historic commitment to human rights.
The media in Zimbabwe's former colonial ruler Britain launched a series of ferocious personal attacks against French President Jacques Chirac, after France's decision to allow Mugabe to attend the Franco-African summit here.
Human rights groups and the Zimbabwean opposition expressed incredulity that France, the traditional home of liberty and equality, could extend an invitation to a ruler dubbed a "tyrant" and a "monster".
"Slimy Chirac rolls out red carpet for tyrant Mugabe," was the headline in Britain's top-selling daily tabloid The Sun, which branded Chirac "le Worm."
According to media reports, Mugabe, who is accused of violently repressing opponents and leading his country to starvation, has been put up with his wife in the 4,500 euros (5,000 dollars) a night Plaza Athenee Hotel.
"This tyrant's visit is an abomination," thundered the right-wing Daily Mail.
"Bonjour Monsieur Monster," the Mail said. "In geo-political terms it is just a rather nasty pimple. Few expect it to achieve much more than boosting Renault sales to the Third World and adding a few inches to the waists of some of world's sleaziest despots.
"The French should arrest Mr Mugabe, not fete him," said the broadsheet Independent.
In Harare, Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), accused France of betraying Zimbabweans in their hour of need by providing hospitality for their controversial President.
"Whatever perception France has about what benefits will accrue in inviting Mugabe to the meeting will be remembered in future by Zimbabweans that in their time of need, France betrayed Zimbabweans," said MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai at a news conference.
"Excuses that constructive engagement is the only way of resolving this issue also flies in the face of experience that other leaders have had with Mugabe. He has never been a dependable partner to any agreement," he charged.
France had argued that only a face to face meeting with Mugabe, who turns 79 on Friday, could confront the crippling political and economic problems currently engulfing the country.
Chirac had welcomed Mugabe with a handshake, but the greeting was in sharp contrast to the traditional kisses on the cheek reserved for other African heads of state.
However, British rights activist Peter Tatchell accused France of abandoning its historic traditions of liberty and equality, after he was detained by police while protesting.
Tatchell said he was taken with another man to a nearby police station and were followed by a police car when they were eventually released.
"We feel like we're being hunted by rats," he said. "Paris seems to be a virtual police state. The country that gave the world the values of liberty and human rights is trampling on those values right now."
Two dozen activists from the media watchdog group Reporters without Borders (RSF) condemned the 23 African countries whose leaders are present here for failing to ensure press freedoms.
French riot police, who outnumbered the demonstrators, kept them far away from the venue in western Paris, and took away their giant banner calling for freedom of the press across Africa.
"We want to tell President Chirac that we've had enough of this doublespeak: our country presents itself as a model defender of human rights and we're welcoming sinister characters who are dictators," RSF secretary general Robert Menard told reporters.
Seriously!
I starting to think than France should be put ON the list of nations that sponsor terrorism.
YO HO, Chirac the Toad must go!Why do we need France's approval to do the right thing any more than we need Libya's? Or Sudan, NK, Cuba, etc.
France has never been known for being a world class manufacturing competitor. If you can compete in world markets, an alternative strategy is to service the pond scum of the world that no one else is willing to cater to. Perhaps it is the only way for them to "earn" a living. If memory serves me correctly, France has been very forgiving of Ghadaffi for decades.
But are we any better? Mugabe recently visited New York City and was greeted with a warm reception by city officials.
City officials are NOT leaders of an ENTIRE country ala Chirac.
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