Sarkozy threatens to abandon G20 summit

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has threatened to walk out of the G20 summit in
London if leaders of the world's biggest economies fail to commit to introducing
tougher financial regulations.
France and Germany both want the talks on Thursday to focus on the need for new
rules for the financial services industry in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the
current credit crunch.
Sarkozy also wants a global financial regulator, something which has been opposed by
the summit's host British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US President Barack Obama.
Britain and the US believe countries instead need to focus on increasing public
spending to help drive economic growth.
Any walkout by the French president would cause major embarrassment for Brown and
Obama, who hopes the talks will create a pathway to recovery for the global economy.
But Sarkozy's deputy chief of staff for economic affairs Xavier Musca said the
French president was prepared to walk away from the talks if the summit produces a
"false success with language that sounds good but contains no commitments".
"A basic rule with nuclear deterrence is that you do not say at what point you will
use the weapon," Musca told The Times newspaper.
Sarkozy has blamed "Anglo-Saxons" for causing the economic crisis and warned his
ministers last week that he would leave the G20 talks "if it does not work out".
Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd arrived in London at the weekend for a series
of engagements before joining his fellow G20 leaders at the summit.
They have all been invited to attend a reception hosted by the Queen at Buckingham
Palace on Wednesday.