UNITED NATIONS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - France's president said on Tuesday that Paris could support freezing a possible war crimes indictment of Sudan's leader if Khartoum radically changed its policies in its war-ravaged Darfur region.

"There will be no recourse to Article 16 unless there is a radical and immediate change in Sudanese policies," Nicolas Sarkozy told the U.N. General Assembly.

He was referring to Article 16 of the International Criminal Court's statute, which permits the U.N. Security Council to freeze ICC indictments for up to one year at a time. The ICC's chief prosecutor has asked the court's judges to charge Sudan's president with genocide in Darfur. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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