BY MEGAN ARNEY

Tensions between Paris and Washington have heightened in the last few months over several points, including the French rulers' desire for a greater role in the Mideast, stepped-up moves by Washington to assert domination in Africa, and Paris's participation in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

French president Jacques Chirac toured the Mideast in late October, attempting to win back the leverage Paris used to have among the Arab regimes there. Speaking to Palestinian lawmakers October 23 in Ramallah, Chirac said his government was in a better position than Washington to break the deadlock in the negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinians.

The negotiations were "running short of breath because of loss of trust," Chirac said. "I see the European and French role in building more trust." He called for the Israeli government to recognize the Palestinians' right to a nation-state.

Chirac has underlined that "Europe must refuse the rule of imperial law in the region that enables the American-Israeli axis to impose just about anything it wants," commented Sami Nair, a political science professor at the University of Paris, who was quoted in Le Monde. The European Union, however, has ruled out any direct EU involvement in the negotiations.

During World War I, London and Paris had secretly agreed to divide the Mideast. The British took Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq, while the French got Lebanon and Syria. In the course of World War II, anticolonial struggles gained steam in many parts of the world. The European imperialist powers emerged from the war in a weakened condition. In the Mideast, Syria and Lebanon won independence from France and U.S. capital began to play a larger role in the politics of the region.

U.S.-French relations have also been strained over U.S. policy in Iraq. Paris did not support Washington's missile strikes on Iraq in September of this year. This is a switch from its support of the U.S. assault on Iraq in the Gulf War in 1991. On October 24, Chirac appealed to the United Nations to lift a ban on limited oil sales by the Iraqi government. Two French oil companies, Elf and Total, are expected to be the main foreign conduits for the Iraqi oil. Washington pushes Africa `peace' force
Relations with former French colonies in Africa are another tension point. In early October, U.S. secretary of state Warren Christopher visited several African countries, touting a plan for a regional "peace force." The U.S. scheme would provide supplies, military support, and transport to a United Nations- controlled force of as many as 10,000 soldiers drawn from African armies. This "Africa Crisis Response Force" would be used to intervene in conflicts throughout the continent. Washington proposes to put up half of the $25-$40 million needed and calls for its European rivals or the United Nations to come up with the rest.

Speaking in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the University of the Witwatersrand October 12, Christopher said that U.S. president William Clinton "is determined to intensify American engagement in Africa" because "it is in our interest to help Africa succeed." Christopher added that U.S. exports to sub- Sahara Africa "exceed those to the former Soviet Union" and that they will increase as more African countries sell off national enterprises and carry out other "free market" reforms. Most U.S. imports from Africa have been raw material, including crude oil, gemstones, metals, and cocoa.

The government of Mali, a former French colony, agreed to the U.S.-organized force, as did those of Ethiopia and Tanzania. The Organization of African Unity responded favorably to the plan. Christopher also visited Angola and met with government officials from Kenya and Uganda.

South African president Nelson Mandela expressed some reservations. On October 11, the day before Christopher arrived, Mandela said, "Africa would like to feel they are handling things themselves... rather than acting in response to suggestions that come from the outside the continent."

On October 12 Mandela said the scheme "has potential," but would have greater credibility if organized and deployed not by the United States, but the United Nations.

Many countries in Western and Central Africa were French colonies that Paris still considers within its "sphere of influence." Since the 1960s, French troops have intervened in Africa to prop up pro-French regimes and protect their economic interests.

Today Paris maintains a military presence in eight African countries and has military agreements for intervention in 15 others. In May, the French rulers intervened in the Central African Republic, sending 1,400 troops to crush a military rebellion over underpaid wages. In response, 10,000 marched to the French embassy yelling "Death to the French!" and then burned the French cultural center in Bangui, the capital.

In July French president Chirac announced a cut in military and economic "aid" to its former colonies in Africa. The idea, according to the Christian Science Monitor was to "create a flexible, lower-cost force to quickly intervene in regional conflicts." In the last 34 years, France has taken military action in Africa 35 times.

Stepping up its own presence in the region, Washington has recently probed interventions in Libya and Liberia. In 1993-94, the U.S. government sent troops into Somalia and Rwanda.

Jacques Godfrain, the French cabinet official responsible for relations with former colonies, said October 9 that Christopher's trip was politically motivated. Godfrain sarcastically declared he was "delighted to see the President [Clinton] showing interest in Africa and making it a priority three weeks before the presidential elections."

U.S. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns called that remark "outrageous, unfounded, and unjustified." Speaking to reporters October 15, he said, "It is true that some people in Paris seem to live under the delusion that certain parts of Africa can be the preserve or domain of a certain colonial power - ex-colonial power by the way. And that is a far-fetched notion indeed."

Christopher himself stated, "The time has passed when Africa could be carved into spheres of influence, or when outside powers could view whole groups of states as their private domain." French officials rejected U.S. demands for an apology for Godfrain's remarks.

Christopher's aides said the speech he gave in South Africa was addressed as much to Americans as to African listeners, to win support for further penetration of U.S. capital in Africa. The Washington Post reported October 12 that the plan gives a "new definition" to U.S. intervention in Africa, in a "U.S. political climate that has no stomach for military casualties."

For some South Africans, U.S. intervention is not popular either. As Christopher spoke at the University of the Witwaters- rand, students from the Wits Anti-Imperialist Coalition shouted through the open windows of the lecture hall. "Hands off Africa!" and "U.S. troops out of the Gulf!"

Meanwhile, Paris has threatened to halt its move back into NATO military structures unless a French officer is assigned to head NATO's Southern Command in Naples, Italy. Bonn has come out in support of Francés desire for the Southern Command, which includes the U.S. Sixth Fleet. This position has always been under the direction of a U.S. admiral. The United States has said it will not relinquish the Southern Command, which is currently under Gen. George Joulwan.  
 
 
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