Concern about Madagascar

2009-06-21 11:17

Johannesburg - Southern African leaders on Sunday urged Madagascar's political rivals to commit to peaceful negotiations and refrain from violence three months after the ouster of president Marc Ravalomanana.

The 15-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) called the extraordinary weekend summit over the lingering political crisis on the vast Indian Ocean island after Andry Rajoelina seized power in March.

The summit "urged all stakeholders to commit themselves to peaceful negotiated settlement through dialogue and desist from any violent solutions and inflammatory statements" that could jeopardise efforts at constitutional normalcy, said SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomao.

The bloc has appointed former Mozambique president Joaquim Chissano to co-ordinate mediation efforts and will hold an ordinary summit in Kinshasha in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he said, reading the meeting's final communique in the early hours of Sunday.

Breaking the crisis

"What SADC has decided to do is to try to pull together all the activities that are taking place under the leadership of the mediator and his team," said South African President Jacob Zuma at the post-summit briefing.

Zuma, the SADC chair, hosted the meeting with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Swaziland's King Mswati III and Tanzania's Jakaya Kikwete among the handful of heads of states present.

In the summit's opening remarks some 12 hours earlier, Zuma called on parties to hold talks to break the crisis.

"We believe that peace will be achieved if all parties to the conflict are committed to the process," he said.

"It is crucial that there be an inclusive political dialogue, where all the relevant parties and stakeholders have an opportunity to be part of finding a resolution."

Madagascar, which was suspended from the bloc in March, had no official representation but fallen leader Ravolamanana held informal bilateral talks with several participants. He did officially address the summit.

Rajoelina was not invited.

The bloc announced the summit on Thursday, following the suspension of mediation efforts by the African Union and United Nations earlier in the week.

- AFP