Sarkozy seeks peace role in Africa

President Nicolas Sarkozy will on Thursday try to carve out a peacemaking role for France in central Africa by urging the Democratic Republic of Congo to consider sharing its vast mineral resources with its neighbours.

Mr Sarkozy will hold talks with Joseph Kabila, the DRC president, in Kinshasa to persuade him to back a controversial plan to put mines in the east of the vast country under some form of supranational authority, with resources shared with neighbouring Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.

Paris is keen to press for a long-term solution to battles for the control of natural resources, which have fuelled inter-ethnic conflict and destabilised much of central Africa.

But in doing so it risks inflaming nationalist sentiment in Congo. Congo and Rwanda have long had rocky relations and Rwanda is reviled by many Congolese for invading the country twice since its 1994 genocide and seizing illegal control – alongside Uganda – of some of its mineral resources. Both Congo and Rwanda have rebuffed recent efforts by France to promote the idea.

When Mr Sarkozy first floated the idea of a resource-sharing scheme in January it triggered a furore in Congo, with critics accusing France of seeking to "dismember" the DRC to the benefit of Rwanda. Paul Kagame, Rwanda's president subsequently added that the two countries were already talking about developing strengthening trading ties, implying that they did not need French assistance.

Officials in Paris acknowledge that the French initiative backfired because of a lack of prior consultation with the Congolese, but Mr Sarkozy still wants Mr Kabila to consider the proposal.

French diplomats said it was too early to talk of specific details. But the Elysee still regards the European Coal and Steel Community, set up in 1951 with a supranational authority and common spending programmes as the forerunner of the European Union, could be one model to follow.

"They complain about their sovereignty, but Kabila's sovereignty doesn't extend much beyond 100km from Kinshasa," said a French official.

Mr Kabila himself appeared ready to start afresh with Rwanda when in January he allowed several thousand Rwandan troops to help pacify illegal militia groups that have wrought havoc in eastern Congo for many years. The speaker of Congo's lower house of parliament resigned on Wednesday after coming under sustained pressure from the ruling coalition for criticising the move.

Paris is also trying to patch up relations with Rwanda that have been damaged by disputes over responsibility for the 1994 genocide, but the Elysee insists this is not the motive for the resource-sharing plan.

Mr Sarkozy's trip to Africa, which also takes in Congo-Brazzaville and Niger, is his fifth since taking power in May 2007.

It comes amidst signs that Mr Sarkozy has essentially abandoned his previous promise to break with Francafrique – the term used to describe the traditional cosy ties between French presidents and favoured African leaders that put commercial and political interests above transparency, good governance and human rights.

Faced with a backlash from France's "friends" in Africa - at the same time as burgeoning competition from Chinese, Indian, Russian and Brazilian companies - Mr Sarkozy has adopted a more "realist" African policy to protect French business interests and preserve those friendships. Denis Sassou Nguesso, the president of Congo-Brazzaville, is one of the leaders whose name is synonymous with Francafrique.

In Niger, Mr Sarkozy will celebrate a 40-year contract to provide uranium to Areva, the French nuclear group, an expression of Africa's importance to France's energy security. "It's Francafrique around a community of interests, rather than cronyist ties," explained a French official.

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