French government split over Dalai Lama's visit

There was a double announcement on Thursday, which somehow contradicted much the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has said so far about the 12-day visit of the Dalai Lama to France.

Two of his government ministers have now said they are eager to meet Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader before he leaves.

Rama Yade, the outspoken juior minister for human rights told national radio in the morning that her office was looking into the possibility of a meeting with the Dalai Lama and she wanted to take advantage of his presence in the country for a face-to-face.

And in the afternoon representatives of the Dalai Lama himself said that the foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, had been in touch to try to organise a meeting with the former Nobel peace prize winner in the western French city of Nantes on August 20.

Both moves are quite a turnaround from the position taken by Sarkozy who has said he would not meet the Dalai Lama during his current trip but has announced a meeting later in the year on December 10.

Sarkozy’s office had said that the timing of the visit made a meeting inappropriate because it came during the Olympic games in Beijing, and it had been a choice accepted by both the French president and the Dalai Lama not to meet.

And the government line was also toed on Wednesday when the Dalai Lama met a delegation of French parliamentarians, but not as part of an official reception.

In a sense though the move by both ministers is not so unexpected. Both had previously said that they would welcome a personal meeting with the Dalai Lama during his visit, but remained quiet once Sarkozy had taken his decision.

Kouchner is not only a world famous humanitarian himself, he is also a declared personal friend of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader.

Yade has expressed views in the past year which have at times seemed to contradict the official government line.