Summit to resolve Togo crisis
2005-05-18 11:42
Abuja - A summit of West African heads of state will be held on Thursday to help Togo and its political leaders resolve a lingering political crisis, the Nigerian presidency said.
"The summit is in furtherance of the fact that the African Union (AU) and African leaders have subscribed to the fact that solutions to African problems must be indeed found in Africa," President Olusegun Obasanjo's spokesperson said.
Violent clashes followed last month's presidential poll in Togo, which was won by Faure Gnassingbe, the son of former head of state Gnassingbe Eyadema who died in February.
The coalition of Togolese radical opposition parties warned they might boycott the Abuja summit owing to the role they say the Economic Community Of West African States(Ecowas) West African regional grouping played in the Togolese crisis, a spokesperson said.
Ecowas was established 30 years ago to foster economic integration and peace in West Africa.
"Ecowas is at the root of the Togolese crisis, and, for some time now the coalition has said clearly it had no wish to deal further with Ecowas," said a coalition spokesperson in the Togolese capital Lome.
"The coalition plans to travel to Abuja to participate in a meeting to which it has been invited by the president of the African Union, President Obasanjo — not to attend an Ecowas summit," said spokesperson Crosby Kuist.
"If, upon our arrival, we note it is in fact an Ecowas summit, we will take the necessary moves," he added.
Ecowas, the AU, the European Union and United States have accepted the outcome of Togo's election despite noting flaws.
But the opposition has so far refused to recognise Faure's victory at the poll, which they alleged was marred by fraud.
At least 30 people were killed in clashes across the country while dozens of cars, buildings and property were vandalised or torched after the election.
Faure, Gabonese President Omar Bongo, and "any other person that is a strong political stakeholder" in Togo are expected at Thursday's one-day summit in Abuja, said Obasanjo's spokesperson.