France’s Royal does not rule out Olympic boycott over Darfur
April 25, 2007 (PARIS) — French presidential candidate Segolene Royal said on Wednesday she did not rule out a boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympics because of China’s stance on the Darfur turmoil in Sudan.
China, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, has huge oil investments in Sudan and rights groups say its involvement is frustrating international efforts to stop the war and atrocities in Khartoum’s western region.
“It’s not because there is oil in the ground that we must let this abominable genocide happen,” Royal told France 2 television.
Asked if France should boycott the Olympic Games to add more pressure on China, Royal said: “I don’t exclude it. If there is such inaction, such passivity, all means must be used so that things move.”
The United States in particular has pressed China to use its economic muscle to persuade Khartoum to end violence in Darfur, where about 200,000 people have been killed in the past few years and about 2.5 million driven from their homes.
Royal faces right-wing presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy in a run-off election on May 6. Most surveys put him ahead of the Socialist.
Sarkozy has ruled out a boycott of the Games over China’s position on Sudan.
“The Olympic Games are a space of freedom. It will contribute to opening up China, and naturally, it’s pacification,” Sarkozy said earlier this month.
(Reuters)