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| B/Faso President, Compaore, named ECOWAS facilitator on Guinea crisis
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Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) -
The Chairman of ECOWAS, President Umaru Yar'Adua of Nige
ria, Saturday named Burkina Faso President
Blaise Compaore as facilitator on the Guinea crisis for ECOWAS and the Internati
onal Contact Group on Guinea (ICG-G), the ECOWAS
Commission announced from its headquarters in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
It said the appointment was sequel to the request of the ICG-G during its 22 Sep
t. 2009 meeting in New York, when it reviewed the situation in Guinea, in additi
o
n to reviewing developments in Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra
L
eone.
President Compaore is expected to visit Guinea in the next couple of days to beg
in his mission, which has become very urgent as tension
now envelopes Guinea following Monday's killing of dozens of protesters by soldi
ers in the capital city of Conakry.
On Friday, a tripartite delegation comprising ECOWAS Commission President Mohamm
ed Chambas, Special Representative of the UN Secretary
General to West Africa Said Djinnit and a representative of the African Union me
t with President Compaore in Ouagadougou, apparently to inform him of the appoin
t
ment.
Compaore, who also helped to broker peace in Cote d'Ivoire, is believed to have
some influence on the leader of the ruling junta in Guinea, Capt. Moussa
Dadis Camara.
As part of its decisions, the ICG-G had encouraged leaders in the sub-region to
undertake ''goodwill missions'' to Guinea to facilitate the respect of the leade
r
of
the ruling CNDD (Guinea's National Council for Democracy and Development), Capt.
Camara, for his commitment with regards to the electoral process. On 12 Sept,
heads of state of Liberia and Senegal paid a joint 'goodwill' visit to Guinea.
Camara heads the military-dominated CNDD, which took control of the West African
nation in December, following the death of long-serving President Lansana Conte
.
Though he had pledged that neither he, other members of the CNDD nor the Prime M
inister would be candidates in the forthcoming President elections, indications
i
n recent times are that he
may be seeking to take part in the delayed polls.
Political, human rights and security situations in the resource-rich West Africa
n nation have continued to deteriorate, necessitating urgent ECOWAS-led interven
t
ion.
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| Lagos - 03/10/2009 |
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