France invites Sudan, not Bashir, to summit - French company to build solar plants in Sudan

France invites Sudan, not Bashir, to summit
From Reuters PARIS Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:53am EDT - excerpt:

(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.

Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court last year for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, and could be arrested if he stepped foot in France, which is a staunch supporter of the ICC.

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.

Bashir had to cancel a trip to Turkey last year after Ankara came under pressure from the European Union not to host him because of the ICC indictment. [...]

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.

Four French hostages were freed in the past two months in Darfur. Three were kidnapped in neighboring countries but aid sources said they were all being held in Darfur.

(Reporting by Yann Le Guernigou; Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Giles Elgood)

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French company to build solar plants in Sudan
From Sudan Tribune, Friday, March 19, 2010 (PARIS):

Solar Euromed, a French solar power company said on Friday it signed a ten billion USD contract with the Sudanese Ministry of Energy and Mining to design, build and manage solar power plants over a 10-year period.



A solar power plant

The first two projects of respectively 100 MW and 150 MW are expected to be operational by 2013/2014. They aim to provide affordable power and water supply to several affected Sudanese regions, including the Darfur region.

"Both projects will contribute to the stabilization and the development of the Sudanese population," the company said.

The solar power, which is seen as environmentally-friendly solution to produce a renewable energy, is using the Sun, structures made out of metal and glass, and greenhouse gas emission-free.

Solar Euromed, located in the Corsica island in France, employs 20 and posts a revenue of some EUR 3 million annually.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) considers this technology will experience a very steep growth in the coming years to reach up to 11% of the world total electricity installed capacity by 2050. (ST)