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French ex-PM says oil embargo could stop Darfur 'genocide
AFP
PARIS
Petroleumworld.com 02 27 06French former prime minister Laurent Fabius, a key foreign policy adviser to presidential candidate Segolene Royal, said Monday that an oil embargo could force Sudan to stop what he described as a genocide in Darfur.
"Sudan could not exist if, for example, the international community slapped an embargo. If we decided on an embargo, in particular on oil, believe me, it would change," said Fabius, who served as prime minister from 1984 to 1986.
Returning from a four-day trip to Darfur where he toured refugee camps, Fabius said 300,000 people have died over the past four years and charged President Omar al-Beshir of being "directly complicit" in the atrocities, calling him the "chief massacrer."
"France must stand up and say that the biggest massacre of the early 21st century must end," said Fabius in an interview to Europe 1 radio.
"This is a region that, little by little, will be emptied of its population. It is a genocide."
Fabius, who joined Royal's campaign team last week and was given special responsibility for foreign affairs, said the situation in Darfur along with other international conflicts "are not removed from the presidential campaign."
"France must say not only what her policies are, but also what is her idea of humanity," he said.
Royal, the Socialist candidate, is running neck-and-neck against rightwing rival Nicolas Sarkozy in the April-May vote for the presidency, according to public opinion polls.
Khartoum-backed Janjaweed militias and government forces are fighting rebels in Darfur in a conflict that has spilled over to eastern Chad and the north of the Central African Republic.
AFP 26 1723 GMT 02 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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