France:We Invite Sudan but not the president of Sudan.

 

France just started sending out letter of invitation for it Franco-African summit  which is expected to be held may. France has also invited sudan for the summit but it clearly stated that it expects somebody other than Pres. Omar Hassan AlBashir to come to the summit. The interesting thing is that the summit has originally been stated to be held in Egypt but due to the fact that Egypt might allow the president of Sudan to visit the summit, news article say that the summit has been moved to Nice,France. I guess the French do make it clear to everyone their opinion on the situation that the Sudan is facing today. I guess many European Union  states will follow the same action that Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy made to tighten the grip on the Sudanese president.

 

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has asked Sudan to take part in a Franco-African summit in May, but has made clear that Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir should not attend, the Elysee said on Monday.

Sarkozy's office said Bashir would not be welcome.

"The president has indeed sent a letter to Omar Hassan al-Bashir to ask him to nominate the person who will represent Sudan at the Franco-African summit," said an official, making clear that the Sudanese leader himself could not come.

The summit had originally been set to take place in Egypt but France was concerned that Cairo would invite Bashir in person so reached a deal to switch the meeting to the French Riviera city of Nice, leaving Paris in charge of invitations.

Sudan's state news agency SUNA said that in his letter to Bashir, Sarkozy had also expressed France's gratitude for the recent release of French hostages in the region.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62L2B720100322