Games should not be used as political weapon: EU

By Darren Ennis

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Sport should not be used as a political weapon and a boycott of the Beijing Olympics should be avoided, the presidency of the European Union said on Friday.

Slovenian Sports Minister Milan Zver, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, was responding to this week's withdrawal by film director Steven Spielberg from his Olympic role over China's stance on Darfur.

"Sport is a tool for inter-cultural dialogue and should not be used as a weapon for politics," Zver told reporters in Brussels.

"We should avoid any boycott of the Games."

Spielberg quit as an artistic adviser for sport's showpiece event because of China's support for the Sudanese government. A group of Nobel Peace laureates also wrote to Chinese President Hu Jintao this week urging him to change policy towards Sudan.

Beijing is a major investor in Sudan's oil industry and the largest supplier of weapons to the East African country.

Experts estimate 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million uprooted in violence in Darfur since mostly non-Arabs took up arms in early 2003 accusing Khartoum of neglect.

"The Games is about sport, not about human rights. It is up to politicians, NGOs and the like to pursue this matter, not athletes," said Zver.

China says the Games should not be politicized. Under IOC rules, athletes cannot discuss political issues within Olympic zones, but should have freedom of speech outside them.

(Editing by Robert Woodward)