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French press review 14 February 2015

There's much more in today's French papers on the major arms deal between Paris and Cairo which is to be signed on Monday.  

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In its front page lede the centrist daily Le Monde promises to reveal "the secrets" of what it calls "the sales blitz" to Egypt.

Certainly, the paper has more details. The kit to be supplied - worth a total of 5,2 billion euros - includes 24 Rafale twin-engine fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Plus air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles and a 6,000 tonne Frigate - the Normandie.

Negotiations between the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, French President François Hollande and his Defence Minister, Yves Le Drian, are said to have taken 5 months. Which, we're told, is record time. Typically, talks drag on for years. The agreement was finalised during a tete à tete between the two heads of state at the funeral of the Saudi King, Abdallah, in Riyad, last month.

The proposed sale is regarded as a major breakthrough for Dassault Aviation after a decade of setbacks, says Le Monde. The company hopes the contract with Egypt will lead to sales elsewhere, in the Arabian peninsular and South Asia. The company hopes to sell 40 aircraft between now and 2019.

As for the politics, Le Monde says it is proof of a serious falling out between Sisi's authoritarian regime - which, lest we forget, first seized power in a coup d'etat - and Washington, a strategic ally of Egypt since the 1970s. The paper says American criticism of human rights violations have irritated Egyptian leaders.

Like other papers in recent days, Le Monde's editorial focuses on the latest efforts to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine. It notes that France and Germany, whose initiative led to the agreement reached in Minsk this week, did not raise unwarranted expectations. We must not lower our guard, the paper says. It approves the line taken by Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, who declared that trust in the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, is limited. Sanctions against Russia will continue, Tusk said, and could be re-enforced if the cease-fire in Ukraine is not respected.

Le Figaro also celebrates the arms sales to Egypt on its front page. It is oxygen for France's aerospace industry and the high-tech enterprises in its supply chain, the paper says.

It gives more space to what it calls "the question of Islam at the heart of political debate." Figaro says the Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, is engaged in consultations to gauge the influence of the Muslim brotherhood and Salafists in France. The opposition party, the UMP, also has created a working group to look at Islam in France.

There are several possible translations for the headline on the paper's editorial. Don't sweep it under the carpet. Don't turn a blind eye. We mustn't bury our heads in the sand. You get the message, I'm sure.

Figaro says the demands of intransigent Islam pose a problem for France. A Muslim political party plans to contest the next regional elections. Some commentators say they'll only field a few candidates and it's of no importance. Le Figaro disagrees. The party - which calls itself the Union of French Muslim Democrats - wants schoolgirls to wear veils, more lessons on French colonialism and the war in Algeria, votes for foreigners and to promote Islamic banking and halal food.

Is this trivial, the paper asks. The answer - it's only the beginning. Figaro recalls the novel "Submission" published earlier this year, which envisages an Islamist President in the Elysée Palace in 2022. Fantasy, yes, the paper says. But, there's also reality. Our political leaders must show their determination to resist the excesses of Islam. Stop making concessions and compromises and the surrender of our heritage and culture. The paper hopes that politicians will be up to the challenge.

Last but not least, the front page of left-leaning Libération pictures Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood, shouldering a rifle, with the headline "Old Devil." Eastwood spoke to the paper for the usual reason - his latest movie is about to open in French cinemas. Entitled "American Sniper" it's based on the true story of a Navy Seal during the Iraq war. Libé recognises Eastwood's talents. But it doesn't approve of the film, which glorifies the sniper and, says Libé, is propaganda. They may be right. I suspect Eastwood couldn't care less. A case of "Go Ahead, Punk, Make my day."

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