AP News, November 7th, 2007
When he took office six months ago, President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to overhaul France's ties with Africa, scrapping the colonial mentality that long has tainted dealings with the continent.
But in his first major crisis in Africa, critics say Sarkozy has reverted quickly to the paternalistic style his government condemns.
The crisis began when a group of French aid workers tried to spirit 103 children from Chad to France on the grounds that they were orphans from Darfur, the vast, violence-wracked region in neighboring Sudan.
Chadian authorities arrested 17 people on suspicion of trying to kidnap the children and this week Sarkozy made a fast trip to Chad to bring back three French journalists and four Spanish flight attendants from the charter plane that had been booked to fly the children out.
Once back in France, Sarkozy said he was determined to "go and get those who remain there, regardless of what they did." He was referring to six French aid workers at the heart of the plot — all charged by Chad with kidnapping.
The remark drew a wave of condemnation from infuriated Chadians, who said it suggested neocolonialism. It also irked Sarkozy's political rivals in France, who chided the president for mistaking himself for "Zorro."
"It is not up to President Sarkozy to decide what Chadian judicial authorities will do," Chad's Justice Minister Albert Padacke said.
The six members of the aid group Zoe's Ark could face up to 20 years' hard labor if convicted in Chad on kidnapping charges. A 1976 accord between France and Chad could potentially allow for French nationals to be extradited for trial at home. However, it is up to Chadian judicial officials to decide what happens next.
Some analysts said the case has demonstrated that French habits apparently die hard, particularly its past penchant for interfering in Chadian affairs long after 1960, when it ended colonial rule in the east African nation.
Sarkozy is "old wine in a new bottle" when it comes to Africa, said Roland Marchal of the National Center of Scientific Research.
Sarkozy's comments may even have worsened the situation of the six aid workers by rallying Chadian public opinion against them and making their extradition politically sensitive, said Philippe Hugon of France's Institute for International and Strategic Relations.
"It can only harden Chad's position," Hugon said.
Sarkozy's remarks were all the more surprising because he had played up his decision to break with the past and installed a government reflecting the diversity of 21st century France. The Cabinet includes Human Rights Minister Rama Yade, who is of Senegalese origin and on the political front lines of the Chad imbroglio.
Yade reminded lawmakers, in a reference to colonial France, that the era in which France was seen as the father-figure "is over."
The crisis also gives Chadian President Idriss Deby — who seized power in a 1990 coup — an important bargaining chip to win concessions from Sarkozy.
"If Sarkozy wants (the charity members) back in France, certainly he will get them. The question is at what cost?" Marchal said. "Likely the answer is more public support of the Deby regime."
