High on personal triumph from the European summit, President Sarkozy offered French leadership yesterday to resolve the conflict in Darfur.

“Silence is killing,” Mr Sarkozy told an international conference in Paris attended by Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, and Chinese and other international officials. French troops are expected to be the largest contingent in a new UNAfrican force to bring relief to the western Sudan territory where 200,000 have been killed in ethnic violence since 2003.

Unlike President Chirac, who took little interest in Darfur, Mr Sarkozy has made the crisis a priority. His Darfur push, promoted by Bernard Kouchner, the outspoken rights activist who is his Foreign Minister, is one of a whirlwind of initiatives that are dazzling the new President’s admirers and stirring unease among critics.

“If he carries on at this rate Sarkozy will quickly become the new Sun King, or he will burn up in a year or two,” said le Midi Libre. The Mediterranean newspaper was reacting to a streak of frenetic activity by the reformist “hyper-President” who is drawing comparisons with King Louis XIV, le Roi Soleil, and Napoleon Bonaparte.

On Wednesday King Sarko I, as he is known, commandeered TF1 television and had its presenters broadcast the evening news from his gilded office in the Elysée Palace. Most of it consisted of a 45-minute lecture from Mr Sarkozy.

After the Brussels EU summit on Saturday, Mr Sarkozy earned praise in France and abroad for his role in brokering with fellow EU leaders a new mini-treaty to replace the Constitution. The push to rush through the treaty came from the French leader. “France is back,” said headlines praising Mr Sarkozy’s efforts with Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, to overcome Polish resistance to a deal.

France was especially pleased by Mr Sarkozy’s excision from the treaty and relegation to an appendix of the old reference to “free and undistorted competition”. His approach was praised yesterday by leftwingers such as Jacques Delors, the former EU Commission chief.

Later on Saturday Mr Sarkozy laid down a new protectionist doctrine on trade that he wants Europe to follow. This means “the end of competition as an ideology and a dogma” in Europe, he said.

Europe must have a new strategy. It must cease being exploited by rapacious exporting nations. Europe’s new line must be: “You want us to open our markets? We will open them the minute you open yours,” Mr Sarkozy added.

As well as meeting Dr Rice and opening the Darfur session, Mr Sarkozy conferred with hostile student leaders on the measures that he plans to modernise ailing universities.

Mr Sarkozy’s style of leadership is earning support from the public, with a 60 per cent approval rating. However, it is infuriating the Socialist opposition and upsetting some of his UMP allies.

Senior parliamentarians are unnerved by the way he has cast into the shade the Prime Minister, François Fillon, who critics claim has been relegated to a steward’s job, and fear that he may be in breach of the Constitution.

“Sun King Sarkozy I, is taking up all the light . . . in the shadow, is the Prime Minister, all grey and shrivelled up,” the leftwing weekly Marianne mused.

Taking its toll

200,000 lives have been lost in the conflict

1/3 of Darfur’s population, – more than 2 million people – have been displaced by the violence

107,000 civilians were displaced between the start of this year and April 1 alone

2 million more are suffering severe disruption including loss of access to food and medical supplies

2/3 of Darfur's population – about 4 million people – depend on aid for survival

147,000 people in neighbouring Chad have also been displaced. The country has received 232,000 Darfur refugees so far

Sources: Caritas; the Disasters Emergency Committee

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