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Possible Darfur meetings at African-French summit

A summit intended to strengthen ties between Africa and former colonial power France opened yesterday, an event seen as one of President Jacques Chirac's last forays on the international stage.

The two-day gathering on the French Riviera will see Chirac bask in the company of leaders that he considers close friends, including Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, Africa's longest serving president, and Paul Biya of Cameroon.

The schedule features round-table discussions on Africa's economies and place in the world but a likely meeting between the presidents of Sudan and neighboring Central African Republic and Chad will address a more immediate crisis: Sudan's wartorn Darfur province.

The UN Security Council has proposed sending peacekeepers to secure Darfur's border area, but UN officials say there must first be a peace to keep between government forces and armed rebels.

Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has resisted pressure to authorize a deployment of 3,000 UN peacekeepers to support the 7,000-strong African Union mission in Darfur, where experts say 200,000 have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes in four years of rape, murder and pillage.

genocide

Washington calls the crimes genocide. UN and AU observers blame the pro-government militia, known locally as Janjaweed, for the worst atrocities.

Foreign powers are competing for Africa's vast natural resources, which were to be discussed at one of the three round-table meetings yesterday.

Representatives from 48 of the 53 African countries will attend the gathering being held after China scored a diplomatic coup by attracting 41 African leaders to Beijing in November for a historic summit.

As Chirac prepared to make his farewell to Africa, critics challenged the view that the French leader had taken the plight of the world's poorest continent to heart.

In a harshly-worded attack on Chirac's Africa policy, Socialist candidate for the French presidency Segolene Royal said Chirac had tarnished France's image by nurturing "personal friendships" at the expense of partnerships that would be in the general interest.
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