FINANCIAL TIMES
Wednesday May 18, 2005
By Martin Arnold in Paris

Total chief rejects calls to quit Burma

Thierry Desmarest, chief executive of Total, yesterday rejected calls for the French oil group to pull out of its natural gas operations in Burma, despite accusations from human rights organisations that it props up the country’s military junta.

Many of the 7,000 small shareholders attending Total’s annual meeting in Paris were handed leaflets entitled “Stop the Totalitarianism in Burma” by human rights activists, outlining their arguments against the company’s Burmese presence.
The protests are part of a global campaign by more than 50 human rights organisations and trade unions, launched in February, targeting the French group’s investment in Burma.

Mr. Desmarest said: “It is not by leaving Burma that we would further the progress of democracy. We believe in the link between economic development and respect for human rights.”

In the US, activists yesterday demonstrated outside French diplomatic buildings in six US cities, to protest over Total’s presence in Burma, and Frances’ resistance to greater sanctions against the south-east Asian country.

Human rights groups argue that Total’s gas operations in the country are a key reason why France opposes the introduction of further sanctions against Burma, as it is understood to have done in the European Council last year.

However, Mr Desmarest said: “If we decided to leave, we would immediately be replaced by other companies who do not perhaps have the same commitment to human rights as us.”

The leaflets distributed to shareholders in Paris said: “Total’s investment in Burma contributes to maintaining the military regime by supplying it with an important source of foreign exchange, as well as a moral and political support.” They quoted imprisoned Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the pro-democracy movement, as saying: “Total has become the main support for the military regime in Burma.”

Total faces lawsuits in France and Belgium, filed by villagers abused by Burmese soldiers while working on or near the gas pipeline. A similar suit in the US against California-based Unocal, the junior partner on the Yadana gas project operated by Total, was settled out of court in December for an undisclosed amount. Unocal has since agreed to be acquired by Chevron.

The issue could become a serious problem for Total, which has in recent years made greater efforts to clean up its image in the wake of the 1999 Erika oil tanker disaster off Brittany and the AZF chemicals factory explosion in Toulouse in 2001.