Paris pushes swift deployment of troops in Darfur

Source: CNN.

June 25, 2007.

PARIS, France (AP) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy pushed fast international action toward speeding up deployment of troops in Darfur, as key world players met Monday to try to consolidate efforts and resources for the ravaged Sudanese region.

Sudan was not invited to the one-day Paris conference, organized by a new French government that has made the four-year conflict in Darfur a top priority. The meetings come after Sudan agreed -- under international pressure -- to allow the deployment of a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force in the region.

Sarkozy pledged an additional $13.4 million to the existing -- and cash-strapped -- African Union force. "Silence is killing," in Darfur, Sarkozy said in greeting participants to the conference.

"The lack of decision and the lack of action is unacceptable," he added.

He praised Sudan for agreeing to the hybrid force but insisted, "We must be firm toward belligerents who refuse to join the negotiating table."

Stepping up pressure for progress, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said Sunday night that the international community has fallen down on the job in Darfur.

Rice and Sarkozy had their first face-to-face talks since Sarkozy took over last month from Jacques Chirac.

Details about the composition, mandate and timetable of the joint force are expected to top discussions at Monday's meetings.

More than 200,000 people have died in the Darfur region of western Sudan and 2.5 million have become refugees since 2003, when local rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government, accusing it of decades of neglect. Sudan's government is accused of unleashing in response a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed -- a charge Sudan denies.

The U.N. and Western governments had pressed Sudan for months to accept a plan for a large joint force of U.N. and AU peacekeepers to replace the overwhelmed 7,000-strong African force now in Darfur.

Sudan initially accepted the plan in November but then backtracked, before finally agreeing earlier this month. Rice warned Sudan's government not to renege on its agreement.

Bernard Kouchner, French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, insisted Sunday, "This is not a 'peacemaking' meeting, but on the contrary, a meeting to support the international efforts that have been deployed."

Kouchner, a Socialist who co-founded the aid group Doctors Without Borders, said "humanitarian work ... is not enough." He also noted that the world powers must agree to support the U.N. force financially.

"If there are 20,000 forces who are in the hybrid force, whoever they are, they must be paid," he said.

The conference includes Rice, Kouchner, officials from the United Nations including Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, the Arab League and the European Union, as well as 11 European countries, Egypt and China.

Notable absences, other than Sudan, include the African Union and neighboring Chad, which has seen an influx of tens of thousands of people fleeing Darfur and is a key conduit for aid.

China is viewed as a power broker in Sudan because of its heavy investment in the country. China has long opposed harsh measures against Sudan over Darfur.

Beijing has dramatically stepped up efforts to end the violence in Darfur in the wake of mounting criticism that threatened to taint the 2008 Olympic Games, which it is hosting.

China has not received a formal request to send soldiers for the AU-U.N. peacekeeping mission, but officials have said the country is open to contributing troops.

France had long been less vocal than the United States, Britain and others in pushing for peace in the region, but Sarkozy has made Darfur a foreign policy priority since taking office last month.

Sarkozy leads first election round

By BREITBART.com.
Jun 10, 2007.

Voters in France have resoundingly endorsed President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to overhaul the French economy, giving his party a commanding lead in the first round of elections for parliament.

Mr Sarkozy's UMP party won 39.6% of the vote, while the opposition Socialists had 24.7%, the Interior Ministry said.

Mr Sarkozy's conservatives have a strong advantage heading into the decisive runoff next Sunday, on track to expand their absolute majority in the 577-seat parliament.

Control of the National Assembly is central to Mr Sarkozy's agenda of tax cuts, labour reforms, and other plans to try to shake France out of its malaise.

The election sapped support from the fringes -- including Jean-Marie Le Pen's once-influential extreme right National Front and the Socialists' farther-left allies -- and leaves France facing a parliament tilted unusually deeply to the right.

Turnout sank to a record low of 60.4%, which pollsters blamed on lack of suspense.

The UMP has been widely expected to win since Mr Sarkozy's strong victory over Socialist Segolene Royal in the president election last month.

Socialists tried to rally backing for the second round -- and tap fears of an all-powerful "Sarko state" if the president's camp gets a lopsided majority.

"There are crushing majorities that crush, dominant parties that dominate, absolute powers that govern absolutely," Socialist leader Francois Hollande warned.

Mr Sarkozy's backers say a convincing mandate is the only way to get the French, eager to strike and wary of globalisation, to reform.

French Total oil boss under formal investigation

Source: Middle East Times.

AFP March 23, 2007

PARIS -- A French judge has placed the chief executive of the Total oil group under formal investigation on suspicion of paying bribes to secure a major gas field deal in Iran.

Christophe de Margerie, who is already under investigation over the Iraq "oil-for-food" bribes scandal, was officially warned of the new accusations Thursday night after he had spent more than a day in detention.

The judge placed Margerie, who has only been Total's chief executive since February, under investigation for suspected "corruption of foreign public agents and misuse of corporate assets," a legal source said.

Margerie was given conditional release.

The French oil company is suspected of paying top Iranian officials nearly 100 million Swiss francs ($80 million) through two Swiss bank accounts to win a contract for the South Pars offshore gas field in 1997.

Margerie was detained by French police Wednesday before being transferred to a serious financial crime unit a day later, judicial officials reported. Four other serving and former Total executives were also detained but later released without charge.

In a statement, Total said that its chief executive had been placed "under formal investigation in proceedings related to the development of the South Pars project in Iran."

Being placed under judicial investigation is one step short of being charged with a crime in the French legal system. It does not necessarily mean that 55-year-old Margerie is heading for trial.

A case can be dropped if a judge is unable to sustain his accusations against an individual.

In the statement Total expressed "its full support for its employees and confirms that the agreements for the development of the South Pars project were entered into in compliance with applicable law."

It also said that the company was "confident" that the "investigation will establish the absence of any illegal activities and reaffirms that Total adheres to a strict code of conduct regardless of the difficulties linked to its activities and the environments in which it operates."

The suspicions center on a contract Total won from the Iranian oil company NIOC for the South Pars field.

The French judge is partly relying on testimony given by an employee of Norwegian oil company Statoil who revealed the existence of a corruption system in Iran during an investigation in Norway.

According to sources, money was paid to Iranian officials between 1996 and 2003 when Margerie was Total's Middle East director.

Last year he was charged with complicity with fraud and corruption by the same judge as part of an investigation into a French link to the "oil-for-food" scandal in Iraq.

Companies were said to have paid money to get oil deals from Iraq while it was under UN sanctions during the Saddam Hussein years.

Several other Total executives and former executives, including Patrick Rambaud, who was also questioned over the Iran deal, have also been put under investigation as part of the "oil-for-food" scandal.

Known in the company as "Big Moustache," Margerie was promoted to head of Total in February in succession to Thierry Desmarest who had overseen huge expansion of the group and is president of the supervisory board.

Margerie studied at the elite ESCP business school in Paris, joining the finance department of Total in 1974, rising to the managing committee in 1992, and becoming director for the Middle East region in 1995.

French Judge grills Total chief over corruption accusations

Source: Yahoo News.

A French judge on Thursday questioned Total oil chief executive Christophe de Margerie over corruption suspicions surrounding a major gas deal in Iran, bringing formal charges a step closer.

The French oil giant is suspected of paying top Iranian officials nearly 100 million Swiss francs (60 million euros, 80 million dollars) through two Swiss bank accounts to win a contract in 1997

Margerie was detained by police on Wednesday and on Thursday was transferred to the serious financial crime unit, legal sources said.

He was later taken to the office of magistrate, Philippe Courroye, who has spent three months investigating the South Pars contract that Total secured with the Iranian oil company NIOC.

Courroye could place de Margerie under judicial investigation which would be the first stage toward formal charges.

Four other Total executives, including financial director Robert Castaigne and a former senior executive, Patrick Rambaud, who was in charge of Total's negotiating section, were also detained on Wednesday but released late in the day without charge.

Total has confirmed that the executives have been questioned over the South Pars offshore field deal. But a spokesman said the group, France's biggest company in terms of turnover, supports Margerie and "confirms that the agreements signed respected the law."

If Margerie is not charged he could still be warned that he is needed as a witness or given an unconditional release.

According to sources close to the inquiry, the money was paid to Iranian officials between 1996 and 2003, when Margerie was Total's Middle East director. The Swiss accounts belonged to a suspected intermediary in the deal. Switzerland has frozen some 9.5 million euros from the accounts.

The oil group's chief executive is no stranger to controversy.

Last year he was charged with complicity with fraud and corruption by the same judge as part of an investigation into a French link to the "oil-for-food" scandal in Iraq.

Companies were said to have paid money to get oil deals from Iraq while it was under UN sanctions during the Saddam Hussein years.

Several other Total executives and former executives, including Rambaud, have also been charged as part of the "oil-for-food" scandal.

Known in the company as "Big Moustache," Margerie was promoted to managing director of Total in February in succession to Thierry Desmarest who had overseen huge expansion of the group and is president of the supervisory board.