IHT on TOTAL US sanctions (Iran, Bu

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Subject: IHT on TOTAL US sanctions (Iran, Burma etc)

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Headline: International Herald Tribune (August 6, 1996) : =

TOTAL affirms committment to Deals in Libya and Iran ; =

EU Officials View Threat As Clinton Electoral Ploy ; =

Japan Attacks Measures ; =

Containment of Iran (The Daily Telegraph (London) ; =

DAASK (Voices from Asia, IHT) ; =

US Economic Report  Sees Instability in Burma (Reuters, IHT, Finance sectio=
n, August 7, 1996)

Keyword: National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi, political p=
risoners, human rights, Slorc abuses, foreign investment, France, TOTAL, Eu=
rope, Libya, Iran, US sanctions, European Union, Japan, Germany, Kinkel, Th=
ierry Desmarest, Italy, Turkey, oil, gas, pipeline, Yadana, Max Berley (IHT=
), Alan Cowell (NYT)
Date: August 7, 1996
Source: Euro-Burmanet, International Herald Tribune (Max Berley), NY Times =
(Alan Cowell)
Section: ebn
Rubrique:main

The IHT (part owned by NY TIMES ,  Washington Post, and a French group,) co=
ntinues their byline reporting on US sanctions, with this front page lead s=
tory on TOTAL. Further, Burma is front page news, in culture, political and=
 economic  world news. There are also several stories, DAASK quote endorsin=
g BURMA TOURIST BOYCOTT  and poor Burmese economic figures. =


At least to us here at Euro-Burmanet, the message is clear, TOTAL is prepar=
ed to snub US presidential sanctions during this election period. Nonethele=
ss, TOTAL has become a front page news item (in both US publications and Fr=
ench national press here) and should it be cast as a die-hard nationalist b=
reaking from the ranks of an international crackdown on terrorism, this one=
 week after the AntiTerrorist Summit in Paris ! , then once again, the Fren=
ch show themselves masters at diplomacy's double-standards and hypocrisy. L=
ets keep the debate on for an international TOTAL BOYCOTT. We are going to =
need a lot of help here, buttressing anti-American cultural domination, Fre=
nch national pride, European reticence, and all the other wrong-sided defen=
ses against American pressure. TOTAL SA , and not the French government, na=
tion, or people, is at the center of the controversy,- and we need the Fren=
ch on our side. Fellow Americans and Free Burmese internationalists, this m=
ay be just the thing the Free Burma movement needs to get the French people=
 better informed as the stoplight  is squarely on TOTAL (irregardless of th=
e fact that the French are on vacation, out of the country, or still here w=
ishing to forget what a bad year it has been in France !) TOTAL SA, a compa=
ny dictators can rely on ! Well, the French people, especially the young, h=
ave to get off their cynical and fatalistic indifference (la malaise, l'imm=
obilisme) that is fashionable here in post-grunge Paris and get down to it =
! We will continue whatever we can here to inform them nationally, and keep=
 the debate front page news.There is no going back to things as they were b=
efore. =


We also urge all people to write President Chirac, the French Foreign Minis=
ter Herv=E9 Charette, and Prime Alain Jupp=E9 not to diassociate themselves=
 from the Burma issue. This ought to be on the debating agenda when French =
parliamentary leaders return to Paris in the fall.

One particular note on this story, see how TOTAL's CEO Thierry Desmarest cl=
aims as priority TOTAL's committment to support terrorist nations and dicta=
tors so to as " enhance their political maturity ". Is this the business of=
 TOTAL's investment agenda in BURMA, to legitimize as well to enrich and en=
courage Slorc ministers, cronies and the Slorc army's " political maturity =
" of repression ? TOTAL's  rhethoric from the top management down to the ab=
uses of TOTAL-financed Slorc soldiers and TOTAL's profit by forced labor sa=
ys  all we need to hear apart from redundant confirmation by TOTAL's Thierr=
y Desmarest. Perhaps, it would be in keeping with President Chirac's glorif=
ication of the French tradition of defending human rights for the French go=
vernment to call for the resignation  of Thierry Desmarest, as well as supp=
ort of the sanctions movement, until its goals are achieved?  Other comment=
s and contributory viewpoints are welcomed.

- Euro-Burmanet, Dawn Star, Paris

Begin IHT story =


Europeans Pump Up Defiance to New U.S. Sanctions : Total Affirms Committmen=
t To Deals in Libya and Iran
by Max Berley (Special to the Herald Tribune)

PARIS - TOTAL SA, plans to defend its investments in Libya and Iran, despit=
e the threat of sanctions from the United States, and the French oil compan=
y is also looking for opportunities in countries that might be subject to s=
imilar American measures, its chairman said.

In an interview with the International Herald Tribune, Thierry Desmarest, T=
OTAL's chairman, affirmed the company's committment to invest in countries =
that are increasingly viewed as "pariah states " by the United States, incl=
uding Iran and Libya, as well as Burma, Syria, Iraq and Columbia.

TOTAL, the first foreign company to have signed a deal with Iran after the =
Iranian revolution of 1979, was a key target of the law. The sponsor of the=
 legislation, Senator Alfonse D'Amato, earlier this year, warned TOTAL that=
 its investments in oil fields at Sirri, Iran, were " very distressing ".

The New York Republican also said that any business deal that helped Iran d=
evelop its energy sector was considered a " direct threat to U.S. national =
security " by members of Congress.

TOTAL, however, was undeterred. "What we believe is that policies of embarg=
o, of blockade, or economic isolation, are not the solution to the poltical=
 problems of developing countries and that it is better to develop these co=
untries to enhance their political maturity ".

Although the law signed Monday by President Bill Clinton placing sanctions =
on foreign companies that invest in Iran and Libya's oil industries is not =
retroactive, as Mr. D'Amato had threatened it might be, Mr. Desmarest criti=
cized the U.S. action and said his company would continue to invest where i=
t saw fit.

" What is becoming a bit extravagant is that the United States is alone aga=
inst everyone, " he said. "Every country is responsible for its own actions=
, and I would never allow myself to pass judgement on the attitude of the U=
=2ES. government, but we are counting on the determination of the French go=
vernment and other European governments to make sure French and European co=
mpanies are not affected by these laws. "

France and other countries of the European Union reacted vehemently after t=
he sanctions bill was announced earlier this year, and said they were study=
ing countermeasures that could be applied against U.S. companies if a Europ=
ean enterprise were targeted by the law.

Mr. Desmarest said he was worried that the Iran/Libya bill, which comes on =
the heels of another bill sanctioning foreign investments in Cuba, could be=
 only one of a series of " extraterritorial measures " by the United States=
=2E

" The measures are not retroactive, " Mr. Desmarest said. " But I would say=
 that there is a larger problem for investors in all these countries. The F=
rench and European governments eel that there is nothing to stop th U.S. fr=
om implementing new measures in the future, an that is why we are preparing=
 countermeasures to preserve their freedom. "

In Iran, TOTAL invested $600 million in two oil fields at Sirri, in July, 1=
995, after Conoco, a subsidiary of DuPont Co., dropped out of the projecct =
after U.S. companies were prohibited by law from doing buisness with Iran a=
nd Libya.

TOTAL, which is seeking partners in the deal, plans to begin production the=
re in 1998 and expects to field 120,000 barrels a day within five years. TO=
TAL also has a 30 percent stake in two oil fields in Libya worth $600 milli=
on.

Although its project in Iran is not actionable under the U.S. law, TOTAL ma=
y have difficulties in finding partners to invest in it, as the law penaliz=
es any future investment of more than $40 million.

Mr. Desmarest said the United States seemed to have a double standard when =
it came to sanctions, favoring economic development as a means of fostering=
 political progress for some countries and not for others.

" When you look at the attitude of the United States toward China, one gets=
 the impression that because it is a huge country, they arer sensitive to t=
he fact that maintaining economic relations works in favor of China 's poli=
tical opening, but in other cases they haven't reached the same conclusion,=
 " Mr. Desmarest said.

TOTAL has also come under fire for its involvement in a $1.2 billion projec=
t, which included Unocal of the U.S., to develop natural gas in Burma. Rece=
ntly, a British television documentary (Inside Burma : Land of Fear, by Joh=
n Pilger. sic. Euro-Burmanet) claimed that TOTAL was using children and for=
ced labor to build a pipeline linking the gas fields to Thailand. Mr. Desma=
rest denied the accusations.

The company is also looking at deals in Columbia (the Columbian President, =
barred by visa denial from entering the United States, was recently in Pari=
s received by President Chirac with full honors), another country that coul=
d join Washington's list of pariahs for the perceived weakness of its effor=
ts to eradicate drugs and drug-trafficking.

End story

begin story (front page, IHT  August 7, 1996

EU Officials View Threat As Clinton Electoral Ploy
By Alan Cowell (New York Times Service)  =


B ONN - Beyond loud protests and warnings of reprisals, European officials =
chose Tuesday to depict President Bill Clinton's threat of sanctions agains=
t foreign companies invsting in Iran and Libya as an electoral ploy that wo=
uld have little real impact on either trade or terrorism.

Officials in Germany, France, Italy and Turkey - which have close economic =
links with both Iran and Europe --  said the new U.S. policcy would not det=
er them from dealing with the two nations, which Washington has cast as pri=
ncipal sponsors of terrorism.

Mr. Clinton signed the bill into law Monday at a time of heightened worries=
 in the United States about terrorism, following the crash of TWA Flight 80=
0, the bomb explosion at the Atlanta Olympics and the bombing of an America=
n military apartment complex in Saudi Arabia.

At France's behest, the European Union is discussing possible retailation a=
gainst U.S. economic interests, the Foreign Ministry in Paris said Tuesday.=


But after vehement European protests Monday, senior Italian and German offi=
cials -like Iran itself - played down the probable impact of the legislatio=
n, seeking to prevent an escalation of the dispute with Washington that cou=
ld be intensified by the U.S. presidential election campaign.

" As for a dramatic trade war between America and Europe, I am not convince=
d that everything will be served as hot as it's being cooked ", said Klaus =
Kinkel, foreign minister of Germany - Iran's biggest European trading partn=
er.

Lamberto Dini, foreign minister of Italy, which has historically had close =
ties to Libya, called the U.S. measures " symbolic ".

He said : " We Europeans know this perfectly well, but at the same time we =
can't just sit back in silence. We should react, but without hysteria. "

Nonetheless, the U.S. bill - and European reaction to it - again illuminate=
d the distinctions between the United States and Europe on the issue. While=
 Washington insists that Iran and Libya must be confronted over their suppo=
rt for terrorism, the Europeans, seeking to protect strong economic interes=
ts, argtue that dialogue will achieve greater behavioral changes in both co=
untries than isolation.

Echoing views expressed by his Italian counterpart, Mr. Kinkel said Tuesday=
 that " part of what is going on in America has to be seen as part of the e=
lectoral campaign. " Even so, he said, " this is a measure that the Europea=
ns cannot accept. "

Collectively, European Union member states subscribe to a policy they call =
" critical dialogue " with Iran, meaning that, while they stand ready to ca=
stigate Tehran, they are not prepared to ostracize the Iranian government.

Mr. Kinkel said, " We think it is more correct to keep talking to Iran and =
not drive it into a corner, so that we can use talks to work against the th=
ings Iran stands accused of. "

And Mr. Dini added that the American moves "  are not going to effectively =
counter terrorism.

The debate has serious economic underpinnings.

Iran and Libya account for one quarter of all the oil imported into the Eur=
opean Union, said Christos Papoutis, a senior European Union official in Br=
ussels. Mr. Papoutsis expressed worries that sanctions against European sup=
pliers of oil industry technology could have serious, long-term effects on =
the Iranian and Libyan oil and gas industries, driving up world prices.

Italy, for one, imports 19.35 million tons of Libyan oil a year and 10.12 m=
illion tons of Iranian oil - totaling 45 per cent of its imports, according=
 to official figures.

An important first test of the American policy could come soon in Turkey, w=
here the new Islamic Prime Minister, Necmettin Erbakan, plans a visit to Ir=
an this weekend.

The Turk energy minister, Recai Kutan, will also visit Tehran this week to =
discuss a 23-year, $20 billion deal for the supply of Iranian natural gas a=
nd the building of a pipeline between the two countries.

**Japan Attacks Measures**

Japan added its voice to the criticism of the U.S. sanctions law, saying th=
e measures might violate international law, The Associated Press reported f=
rom Tokyo.

Hiroshi Hashimoto, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said it was " regrettable =
" that Mr. Clinton ignored repeated Japanese requests not to implement sanc=
tions of the type he announced Monday.

Japanese officials said they did not know of any Japanese companies affecte=
d by the sanctions.

Mr. Hashimoto said the U.S. law might represent an application of domestic =
law outside U.S. borders, " shich is not permitted under international law =
". He said the law also might violate the free-trade rules of the World Tra=
de Organization.


This story from the Editorial Page (Section : Other Comment) , Internationa=
l Herald Tribune, August 7 1996 =


Containment of Iran - The Daily Telegraph (London)

President Clinton has just signed legislation that would penalize foreign f=
irms that do substantial business with Iran (and Libya) ; the European Unio=
n has retailated with countermeasures. Sir Leon Brittan, the European commi=
ssoner responsable for relations with North America, asserts that the Unite=
d States has attacked its friends because of " domestic political interests=
 ", as though this were another dispute within the World Trade Organization=
 over farm or audiovisual products.

Sir Leon is wrong. It is the medium-sized, post-imperial EU countries which=
 are susceptible to narrow commercial pressures from their own businesses ;=
 by contrast, the American political class - which shouldered the burden of=
 world leadership during the Cold War - is still capable of taking a broad =
strategic view of which nations are threats to the regional balance of powe=
r. Even if suspicions of Iranian responsability for the recent murder of Am=
erican servicemen in Saudi Arabia are not borne out, it remains the case th=
at Iran's damaging effect on Western interests and values vastly outweighs =
any mercantile gain that can be derived from trading with it.

The EU's policy of "critical dialgoue " with Iran is scarecely likely to im=
press the mullahs ; they know what realy motivates European policy. What th=
e Iranians do fear, however, is a genuine policy of containment.


--------------------------------------------
 (Voices from Asia, --AP,IHT, August 7, 1996)

Burma will always be here. Why hurry ?

* Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader, saying tourists shou=
ld not visit Burma while the military government remains in power.

-------------------------------------------------

US Economic Report  Sees Instability in Burma (Reuters, IHT, Finance sectio=
n, August 7, 1996)

Bangkok - A U.S. economic report  on Burma questions the long-term stabilit=
y of the country's economy as long as the military rules by force rather th=
an by consent.

The report, written by the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon on Tuesday, criticized B=
urma for 'macroeconomic instability' and the potential for political instab=
ility as well as 'grossly inadequate' development of human =

resources. =


Th report pointed to military spending - which it said amounted to at least=
 half of total central government expenditure - as one of the country's mai=
n problems.

The report said the economy was hindered by a dual exchange rate and a lack=
 of transparency.

Brigadier General David Olivier Abel, Burma's minister for planning and eco=
nomic development, said the report was aimed at discrediting the ruling cou=
ncil. He said that Burma's defense spending was only about 8 to 10 percent =
of the budget.

The report said the statistics were unofficial embassy estimates but drew h=
eavily on reports by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as =
well as data from the Burmese government.