Francophone Africa is wary of new French president

DAKAR (Reuters) - Nicolas Sarkozy's election as French president stirred fears in Francophone Africa on Monday that his tough immigration policies could poison France's traditionally strong ties with the world's poorest continent.

While African leaders in the French-speaking Maghreb and West Africa rushed to congratulate Sarkozy, many media commentators and ordinary citizens expressed dismay and foreboding about the victory of the right-wing candidate.

"Immigration policy is going to harden and (repatriation) charters are going to resume. He is going to kick out a lot of Africans," said Habibou Thiam, a 32-year-old carpenter in the Senegalese capital Dakar.

Sentiment in French-speaking Africa had broadly favored Sarkozy's Socialist rival Segolene Royal, who was born in Dakar and was perceived to have a more sympathetic view of the needs and aspirations of developing African countries.

Sarkozy's insistence during his campaign that he would seek to curb and control illegal migration of Africans, many of whom dream of seeking a new life in Europe, had drawn sharp criticism from governments and ordinary people on the continent.

"With 'Sarko' as president, our compatriots, even those whose (migration) situation is in order, will be trembling. Is he going to renew expulsions all over the place and charters?" Senegalese tabloid Le Populaire asked in a front page comment.

During his tenure as interior minister before running for the presidency, Sarkozy angered Africans by organizing repatriation flights -- dubbed "Sarkozy's charters" -- to send home illegal migrants from Senegal, Mali and other countries.

"Sending people home like animals is wrong. People in Africa don't like him because of that. Every African has a friend or relative in Europe," said computer engineer Moussa Tonde, waiting at the French embassy in Ivory Coast to seek a visa.

In a move to assuage these African reservations, Sarkozy made a "brotherly appeal" to Africa in his victory speech. He said he wanted to work to eradicate poverty and promote peace, and to "decide together on a controlled immigration policy".

Sarkozy also announced plans for a "union of the Mediterranean" that would link Europe and Africa.

FEAR OF RACISM

But African misgivings about him appear deep-rooted. Some commentators on Monday accused Sarkozy, himself the son of a Hungarian immigrant, of being Euro-centric, even racist.

"France's strong democratic and humanist image in the world will suffer a terrible blow with Nicolas Sarkozy," Algerian commentator Ali Bahmane wrote in an editorial in El Watan, one of the North African country's leading newspapers.

"The new head of state has invented scapegoats ... immigrants, Arabs, blacks, people of North African descent born in France, the young of the suburbs, the marginal, the marginalised," he added.

"There is a risk that during his term the humanist advance of France will end and an era of rampant fascism will begin," the editorial said.

Despite these fears, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika were among the first to offer effusive congratulations to the new French president.

Both Sarkozy and Royal had promised to change the style of French policy towards Africa of former President Jacques Chirac, which they criticized as a cozy network of personal ties which often put business and politics before democracy and rights.

This could disappoint some African leaders, who had enjoyed personal friendships with Chirac.

(Additional reporting by Diadie Ba in Dakar, William Maclean in Algiers and Peter Murphy in Abidjan)