Sarkozy ruffles feathers on African tour

Nicolas Sarkozy has tried to break the cosy backroom diplomacy of Franco-African ties, calling for more accountability and backing the trial of an ex-Chadian dictator, but his lecturing tone has angered some.

On his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa since his election in May, the French President set out his Africa policy at a Dakar university, acknowledging colonial ills and calling for democracy, liberty, justice and law.

"Cliches, more cliches and still cliches. What an insult!" the Dakar daily Sud Quotidien said on its front page yesterday.

"When I heard him talking to students in a hall full to bursting point, I thought of those missionaries who came to Africa to "civilise" our great-grandparents," the article said.

Mr Sarkozy jetted on to pay homage to Africa's longest serving leader, Omar Bongo of tiny oil-rich Gabon, a move that raised doubts among diplomats wary of Africa's "dinosaur" leaders. But even as Mr Sarkozy met Mr Bongo, whose French-based assets are the subject of a Paris police investigation over embezzlement accusations, some groups welcomed his break with the past.

Mr Sarkozy backed African calls for a bigger role in a reformed UN Security Council, saying after meeting Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade that "Africa must be represented among the permanent members". He also pledged financial and legal support to Senegal as it prepares to try former Chadian President Hissene Habre on charges of political killings and torture. President Sarkozy, however, has angered many Africans with his policy of limiting immigration to France based on skills and qualifications.

"What France wants with Africa is an immigration policy negotiated together so that young Africans can be welcomed in France and Europe with dignity and respect," Mr Sarkozy said, urging migrants to return home to put their new skills to use. Thousands of young Senegalese have risked treacherous boat crossings to Spain's Canary Islands in the hope of finding work in Europe, but many of those who survive the crossing end up being packed onto planes and flown straight home.

Meanwhile France's offer of nuclear cooperation for Libya has sparked outrage in Germany, where lawmakers see it as yet another example of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's "go-it-alone" approach to foreign policy.

One of Germany's senior parliamentarians accused Sarkozy of not consulting with the European Union's other 26 members and said he was "trying to do too many things at the same time".

"Even if it costs time, France should be interested in strengthening Europe's foreign and security policies," Ruprecht Polenz, the head of the foreign policy committee in Germany's lower house of parliament, said. "But that's not what's happening with these go-it-alone moves," he said.

This is not the first time President Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have clashed since he was elected in May. His efforts to weaken the euro and his calls for greater political influence over the European Central Bank have led to disagreements between the two countries, the two most powerful in the euro zone. Analysts say a budding Merkel-Sarkozy rivalry may have already been visible at a recent EU summit. They said the French President, who came to power promising revolutionary changes in France and Europe, upstaged Merkel at the Brussels summit which she was chairing.