France on Wednesday called for a holistic solution to the Darfur crisis, which must be "political in nature" and take into account the security and humanitarian needs of the region.

"France and the international community wish to see a holistic solution to the Darfur crisis. This solution must be political in nature and take into account the security needs of the region as well as the situation of the refugees and displaced people," French foreign ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said during a regular press briefing, while responding to a question on France's reaction after Chad said it did not see the need for establishing a humanitarian corridor within its territory to help with the delivering of assistance to Darfur as France had suggested.

"It is in this spirit that France is seeking to organize a meeting of an enlarged contact group, at the end of June, in order to give new impetus to the political efforts and hasten the deployment of a joint UN-AU peacekeeping mission in Darfur," the spokesman said.

French foreign and European affairs minister Bernard Kouchner will visit Chad Saturday and Sunday, with the specific objective of meeting and discussing the matter with Chadian President Idriss Deby, according to Mattei.

Source: Xinhua