French minister rows back on Olympic conditions

By Crispian Balmer

PARIS (Reuters) - France's human rights minister denied on Saturday saying President Nicolas Sarkozy would boycott the opening of the Beijing Olympics unless China started talks with the Dalai Lama and released political prisoners.

In a brief statement, Rama Yade said she had never talked about Sarkozy setting conditions in her interview with Le Monde newspaper which was published earlier in the day.

"The term 'conditions' was not used," she said.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also rushed to assure China that France had not attached strings to Sarkozy's eventual involvement in the opening ceremony of the games on August 8.

"France has not laid down any conditions. Laying down conditions would torpedo any involvement in dialogue," Kouchner told France 2 television. "All the options are open," he said.

Le Monde said it stood by its interview, which quoted Yade as saying: "There are three conditions that are vital if he is to go. The end of violence against the people and the release of political prisoners, an investigation into what has been going on in Tibet and the start of a dialogue with the Dalai Lama."

France has struggled to find a coherent response to the violence in Tibetan regions of China and the subsequent crackdown on protesters ordered by Beijing.

It was one of the first countries to suggest shunning the opening ceremony of the games on August 8 but later rowed back on this, suggesting its economic ties with China were too important to risk jeopardizing with a boycott.