French, Sudanese presidents dicuss Darfur and Chad

December 29, 2007 (KHARTOUM) – French President in a telephone call spoke today with his Sudanese counterpart on Darfur crisis and the recent incursion of the Chadian troops into Sudanese territory, French presidency and the official SUNA said.

“The President spoke this morning by telephone with the President of Sudan, Mr. Omar el-Bashir,” said David Martinon, the spokesperson of the French presidency.

Martinon said that discussions focused on the situation in Darfur and in the region. While the official SUNA said that Sarkozy discussed “the Chadian aggression” and urged al-Bashir to exert self-restraint.

According to SUNA, the French president pledged to “play a prominent role” in resolving the ongoing crisis between the two neighbouring countries.

However the French presidency said Sarkozy had “reiterated that it was essential to reach as quickly as possible a political solution to the crisis in Darfur, and that the rapid deployment of hybrid force of the UN and the AU in Darfur and the European force in Chad was crucial to the return of peace in the entire region.”

The two heads of state had recently met in Lisbon on December 8 on the sidelines of the EU Africa summit where they discussed the deployment of the hybrid force and the peace talks to end Darfur crisis.

(ST)