French press review 4 January 2016

This morning's front pages are dominated by the angry dispute between Saudi Arabia and Iran following the weekend execution by the Saudi authorities of the shiite opposition figure, Nimr Baqr al-Nimr.

DR

Libération says Teheran and Riyad are at daggers drawn. But the left-leaning daily is not surprised at the Saudi decision to execute al-Nimr, seeing the judicial killing, by either shooting or decapitation, of 47 political opponents and convicted terrorists as an effort to silence the shiite minority and show determination in the battle against Islamic State armed group.

The problem, says Libé, is that the struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran is now an open conflict, with dangerous implications for a region already destabilised by the Syrian war and the ambitions of IS. Perhaps most significant of all, the Saudis went ahead with the largest mass execution in 36 years without the support of their traditional ally, the United States.

The editorial on the execution in right-wing Le Figaro is headlined "Choosing your allies".

Le Figaro sees the Saudi demonstration of force as a lamentable contradiction of the position agreed at the United Nations just before Christmas . . . Then, all parties to the middle-eastern troubles accepted the need to put their regional and strategic rivalries to one side, with Russia, Turkey, Saudia Arabia and Iran agreeing that the fight against Islamic State was far more urgent than their individual squabbles.

That didn't last too long.

The judicial killing of al-Nimr means that Saudi Arabia and Iran, already fighting proxy wars in Syria and in Yemen, are now in open conflict, with the Saudi Defence Minister, Mohammed ben Salmane, clearly the strongman behind the aged and ailing king, determined to put an end to the policy of conciliation administered by the regime of the late King Abdallah.

Le Figaro has another worry.

According to the right-wing paper, this regional clash between rigorous visions of Islam is exactly what fuels islamic absolutism elsewhere in the world. While the rest of the allies are fighting what Le Figaro unfortunately calls "a war of civilisation" in Syria, Saudi Arabia is trying to win the confessional battle between shiite and sunni muslims.

Says Le Figaro, Saudi Arabia's participation in the international coalition fighting in Syria will ultimately lead to western arms being passed to rebel groups whose moderation and respect for western values remain to be proven.

And, chillingly, Le Figaro notes Saudi determination to crucify al-Nimr's nephew.

Does such a state merit inclusion in an international coalition against mindless barbarity?

Otherwise, the main stories look at what Libération calls "President Hollande's last hand", the few remaining cards the French leader has to play in the re-election game.

The left-leaning paper says the first half of this new year will be absolutely crucial to Hollande's chances. He has to have the courage to reform French labour law, despite trade union resistance; he has to bring the nation back to normality after the state of emergency imposed in the wake of the November terrorist attacks; and he has to translate the media success of the Cop 21 climate conference into real progress against global warming.

Any one of those alone would be daunting; all three together are nearly superhuman.

And there's an additional danger, warns Libé. The current French socialist administration has confused its opponents by adopting liberal social policies and a conservative security strategy. But the same manoeuvres have also confused the party faithful. The risk is a permanent loss of political identity, and thus of left-wing voters.

Over at Le Figaro, they have Alain Juppé effectively launching his attempt to wrest the right-wing presidential ticket from the sweaty grasp of Nicolas Sarkozy. Juppé seems far too much of a gentleman to win what will surely be a knife-fight, especially since he comes armed with a new book in which he outlines his vision of the strong state.

And Catholic La Croix looks back to the tragic events of last January when terrorists attacked the Paris offices of the weekly paper Charlie Hebdo and shoppers at a kosher supermarket. La Croix suggests that 2015 was the year that tipped the terrorist balance in France.