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President Sarkozy Fails to Apologize Africa For the Secret Arms Deals

05-26-2008

French President Nicolas Sarkozy travels to Angola Friday as part of his efforts to establish better ties and close a sad chapter that had led to serious deterioration of relations between the two countries.

The visit, according to keen observers, is intended to heal the wounds that were created by the so-called Angolagate scandal in which France and other western countries were involved in secretly shipping arms to Angola.

"The head of state is also expected to clearly underscore his intentions to transform the country into a new model for Franco-African relations characterized by mutual respect and understanding," according to diplomatic sources.

Initially planned for February, the Luanda trip is the first step in the process of reconciliation initiated by the French president to try and settle disputes accumulated by France in Africa, pending other more delicate stops in Cote d'Ivoire and Rwanda.

Since the visit by former French President Jacques Chirac in 1998, relations between Paris and Luanda have turned cold owing to differences over investigations initiated by the French judicial authorities on arms sales to the country between 1993 and 2000.

Although he is not formally charged in connection with the scandal which began in October last year, Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos has often expressed his dismay at being associated with the case.

"By being accused of arms trafficking, Angola has been treated as unworthy. It is noteworthy that we were buying arms legally and from a legitimate and sovereign state," Angolan Foreign Minister Joao Miranda was quoted as saying recently.

"President Dos Santos was confident that these arms sales had been given the green light from the relevant authorities in France," said a European diplomat, adding that "President Jacques Chirac and his ministers had left him (Angolan president) in the dark."

The Angolan anger was such that only the arrival of a new president in May 2007 was able to unblock the situation. And eight months after meeting his Angolan counterpart in New York, President Sarkozy is now ready to turn his attention to the resumption of cooperation between the two countries.

"We have a lot of interest with Angola", said one of Sarkozy's aids. "This is a regional power that plays a strategic role in ensuring stability throughout Southern Africa. This is also a country in the midst of reconstruction and we would like to help with its development."

In addition, it is not lost on French authorities that Luanda had decisively intervened to support "threatened friendly regimes" in the two neighboring Congos towards the end of 1990, according to observers.

And above all, the reconstruction market in Angola, which is the second largest producer of crude oil in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria, devastated by 27 years of civil war, is largely coveted by French industries.

On Friday, the two countries are scheduled to initial a framework agreement on investment protection, said a French diplomat, adding that "Thales was to sign a telecommunications contract while Total, the number two on the local oil market, is set to announce the construction of four schools."

"If we are allowed to say it, then I would tell you that the objective of this visit is not business, but rather it is a matter of policy," said the diplomat.

Coming at a time when France is struggling to break with the old "France-Africa" ties, Paris wants to showcase Angola as a "model" of its new relations with African countries, according to sources close to the president.