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A turning point: Sarkozy

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday announced a “major turning point” in France’s relations with Africa saying Paris would renegotiate all defence pacts with its former colonies.

The overhaul is likely to lead to a reduction in French garrisons around the continent, which currently total more than 8,000 troops, and a break from the post-colonial policy of intervening in civil conflicts to protect friendly governments.

“France has no call to maintain armed forces in Africa indefinitely,” Mr. Sarkozy told South Africa’s Parliament. “The drafting of these [defence] agreements is obsolete and it is no longer conceivable, for example, that the French army should be dragged into internal conflicts.”

Mr. Sarkozy said the renegotiated defence agreements would also be made public in the interests of a new “transparency”.

“If these agreements really are renegotiated it would be a real break with the past. And if they are really public, it would mark a real change, because most of these agreements have been largely secret until now,” said Sylvain Touati, an analyst at the French Institute of International Relations in Paris.

Under pacts dating back nearly a half century with the Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon and Congo, French troops can be deployed to maintain internal security and defend governments, in return for garrison, transit and overflight rights.

France has stepped in twice in two years in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR), using air power to counter rebel offensives. But the change in policy was apparent in Chad this month when rebels closed in on the capital, Ndjamena, once more, but this time French troops focused on evacuating fellow nationals. Mr. Sarkozy offered to fly President Idriss Deby to safety but did not offer to save his government. In the end, the rebels withdrew.

The President said the emphasis would switch from bilateral to multilateral support. In defence terms, that would mean resources would be channelled towards helping the African Union build a substantial multinational force.

France will also play a central role in a 3,700-strong European peacekeeping force in eastern Chad to protect refugees from Darfur and Chadians displaced by cross-border conflict, and to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian supplies.

Mr. Sarkozy told journalists that France would no longer play the role of policeman in Africa. “It’s not a question of French disengagement from Africa. On the contrary, I would like to see France more engaged with the African Union to build a system of collective security which Africa needs, because African security is first and foremost the concern of Africans.” — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008

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