French NGOs in Gaza furious over Kouchner's remarks |
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Friday, Oct 10, 2008
Gulf News
Dubai: The only two French humanitarian organisations that have a permanent presence in the Gaza strip have strongly denounced French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's recent statement in which he said French non-government organisations (NGOs) working in Gaza were providing Paris with information on Hamas.
Both Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) and Medicins Du Monde (MDM) described Kouchner's statement in his press conference in Occupied Jerusalem on October 5, as "baseless" and "dangerous" as they make French NGOs' practices in Palestinian territories "suspicious".
They also stressed their independence from all governments and interests.
Kouchner said "officially, we have no contact with Hamas, but unofficially, international organisations working in the Gaza Strip - in particular, French NGOs - provide us information."
In a press statement sent to Gulf News, MDM "categorically denounces these declarations, which are totally groundless and strictly denies providing any sort of information to the French government". The French foreign minister's comments are not only wrong but also dangerous as they make French NGOs' practices suspicious," it added.
Also, "MSF confirms that it has never transmitted political information - officially or unofficially - regarding Hamas or any other Palestinian political group to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs," it said in the statement.
Clarification
Later on October 7, Kouchner's office released a clarification saying he was not thinking of French NGOs, but rather think tanks.
"Such a statement it is not sufficient," Dr Duncan McLeam, head of the MSF mission in the Occupied territories said. "The damage is done and the consequences of the earlier statement are real," he told Gulf News in an interview from Occupied Jerusalem.
McLeam noted that Kouchner mentioned French NGOs and they are "not 5,000 working in Occupied Palestinian and Gaza strip".
Hamas has been boycotted by the majority of the countries, since it won a majority in parliamentary elections in 2006, and later seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.
Israel and the US describe the Palestinian Islamist group as "terrorist" group because of its attacks against Israeli targets.
The Gaza strip is facing what many consider as one of the worst human conditions as a result of the Israeli blockade against the populous area as well as the internal Palestinian fighting.
MSF will decide whether to take the issue further if the safety of its staffers were endangered.
"Security [of our staffers] in the main topic for the moment," after Kouchner's statement, Isabelle Merny from MSF Paris told Gulf News.
© Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.
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