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hoped they would do likewise over the British hostage, Mr Collett.
M. Dumas agreed to do so. It would be useful for the French
Embassy to make contact with Mr Waite - the French government had to be seen to be doing something about the hostages. The Secretary of State pointed to the dangers of Mr Waite being seen to have too much contact with governments.
Viot confirmed that Mr Waite's wishes
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on confidentiality would be respected in any contact.
Terrorism
11. At the Secretary of State's invitation Mr Derek Thomas said that the Germans had suggested a meeting of experts of the Summit Seven
done to explore what more could usefully be to combat terrorism, following the conclusions of the Seven foreign ministers in New York. M. Dumas said it would be difficult for France to reply positively. For wellknown reasons, they had always maintained the Seven was not the right forum for discussions on terrorism. They agreed on the need to fight terrorism and were ready to search for
the appropriate structures.
Mitterrand had recently restated
publicly this position.
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12. The Secretary of State said he welcomed bilateral contacts and the growing wish among the Ten to cooperate. But the importance of
the Seven was that it formed a bridge between the larger European powers, the US and Japan. It was a forum with a global dimension.
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Dumas said it would be unacceptable to spread the competence of the seven to non-economic areas. The French could not accept the creation of a "super directoire". The Secretary of State asked whether the French considered that a separate forum was needed to discuss terrorism. M. Dumas said they favoured reinforcement of cooperation in the Ten if need be; and if necessary this could be widened to include, for example Japan. Mme Secret mentioned the
Council of Europe as a further forum. M. Dumas said he was not against discreet cooperation in the Ten who might then consider cooperation with the US. The Secretary of State noted that the Seven had reached an agreement on high-jacking in 1978 and had issued a declaration on terrorism in 1984. He considered the Seven
to be a valid forum. M. Morel pointed out that the London declaration had been agreed upon with difficulty. M. Dumas said he knew President Mitterrand had had after thoughts; he had made his
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