France does not want stability for Sudan: official

June 27, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese government again directed fierce criticism to France accusing it of being one of the international powers that do not want “good or stability for Sudan”.

The Sudanese foreign ministry spokesperson Ali Al-Sadiq told the pro-government Al said that France did not honor its promises regarding the leader of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) Darfur rebel leader Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur who resides in Paris.

Al-Sadiq said that French president Nicolas Sarkozy promised his Sudanese counterpart Omer Al-Bashir to expel Al-Nur if he does not join the peace talks.

Al-Nur insists that cessation of hostilities and achieving security in the ground is a prerequisite for joining any negotiations with Khartoum.

The foreign ministry spokesperson said that France is keeping Al-Nur to press Khartoum on certain issues including Chad and the Darfur conflict.

French officials have said that they continue to press Al-Nur on joining the peace talks but have not succeeded.

France has become a frequent target of criticism by Sudanese officials over the last few years including Al-Bashir.

Al-Bashir has accused France of having a hidden agenda aiming at toppling his government.

Khartoum is angered by French refusal to support a s suspension of the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant issued against Bashir in connection with Darfur war crimes.

Al-Sadiq said that his government wants to normalize relations with Chad for stability of the region.

“We were hoping from the beginning that France would play a role in Sudanese-Chadian relations and we always thought that France could do a lot regarding Chad but unfortunately they didn’t.

The two countries signed a number of deals but none of it was implemented. Sudan says Chad finances and arms Darfur rebels while Ndjamena addresses the same accusations against Khartoum.

(ST)