Darfur rebel leader to remain in France despite Sudan pressure
By Wasil Ali
December 24, 2007 (PARIS) — The decision by the French government to extend the residence permit of an influential Darfur rebel leader is likely to anger the Sudanese government.
Yesterday the French government announced that it has decided to renew the residence permit of leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) Abdelwahid al-Nur.
“The length of stay of Mr. Abdelwahid al-Nur has been extended by three months” the spokeswoman of the foreign ministry Pascale Andreani told reporters on Monday.
The founder leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) Abdelwahid al-Nur has been residing in Paris for since 2006 under a special residence permit granted by the French government. The permit is renewed every three months.
Al-Nur declined political asylum offer by the government of the former president Jacques Chirac.
Andreani said that al-Nur is supposed to “respond positively to invitations to participate in peace negotiations that would be addressed to him by the UN and the African Union”.
The Sudanese government has been pressuring France to expel Al-Nur over his refusal to attend the peace talks before the deployment of peacekeepers.
Sudan’s U.N. ambassador Abdel-Mahmood Mohamad accused France earlier this month of blocking the participation of al-Nur in the peace talks.
Earlier this month Sudan’s official news agency SUNA reported that French President Nicolas Sarkozy had given al-Nur a deadline to attend peace talks by the end of December or leave France.
SUNA’s announcement followed a meeting between Sarkozy and Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir in Lisbon, Portugal at the EU-Africa summit.
Also an unidentified French diplomat told Reuters this month that France will probably force al-Nur to leave the country by the end of the year.
But expelling al-Nur was likely to be an uphill battle because of the wide support he enjoys among Darfur activists and civil society in France.
Richards Rossin, the Secretary General of ‘Collectif Urgence Darfur’, issued a statement mid-December condemning the reports of expelling al-Nur from France.
“The shame of expulsion should not take place. They make us guilty of complicity in crimes against humanity. It would send the worst message of weakness to tyrants everywhere on the planet.” said Rossin who is the head of comittee of solidarity with Abdelwahid al-Nur.
“France should not sell its soul and its traditions of asylums” he added.
Bernard Henri Levy, a renowned French figure, echoed the same call.
“I can not imagine that my friend Kouchner [French Foreign Minister] can soak in such infamy”.
Relations between Sudan and France have been strained since the election of President Nicolas Sarkozy who has taken an increasing role in Darfur diplomacy. The Sudanese government has been hostile to Western involvement in the Darfur crisis.
International experts estimate 200,000 people have died in the conflict, which Washington calls genocide, a term European governments are reluctant to use. The Sudan government says 9,000 people have been killed
(ST)