AU/ECOWAS mission continues consultations in Senegal

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Ahead of Sunday's presidential elections in Senegal, the Joint African Union/ECOWAS High-Level Mission to Senegal was continuing its meetings with key stakeholders in the country on Friday.

A statement from the AU, obtained by PANA here Thursday night, said the mission head, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, was due to meet with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa, Mr. Said Djinit, before meeting with the Minister in charge of Elections, Mr. Cheikh Gueye.

President Obasanjo will also meet with one of the opposition candidates, Macky Sall, and the US Ambassador in Senegal, Mr. Lewis Lukens.

Since arriving in the Senegalese capital on Wednesday, the head of the mission has met with many opposition candidates and other stakeholders.

President Obasanjo is wearing two caps, one as the head of the High-Level Mission, and the second as the head of the AU election observer mission.

Senegal has been plagued by violent demonstrations since the validation by the Constitutional Council of the candidacy of President Abdoulaye Wade for a third term last month.

The violence has so far led to over a dozen deaths.

Thirteen opposition candidates are challenging President Wade.
-0- PANA SIL/JSG/JEN/SEG 24Feb2012