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Island leaders meet in Dakar
25/05/2002 10:55 - (SA)
Antananarivo - An agreement announced on Friday that Madagascar's bitter rivals for power will meet in Senegal at the end of the month comes amid a volatile bout of brinkmanship on the world's fourth largest island.
Official President Marc Ravalomanana and outgoing head of state Didier Ratsiraka, who refuses to and over power, have undertaken to hold talks in Dakar starting on May 29, according to the Senegalese foreign ministry.
In Madagascar itself, no one from either camp was willing to
speak about the meeting.
The pair signed a deal in Dakar in April, but its provisions
failed to take root. A second meeting planned for May 13 and 14
never materialised and Madagascar is now rife with threats of
aggression from both camps.
Sporadic violence has claimed about 30 lives since the crisis
began with a hotly contested presidential election in December.
Ravalomanana's defence ministry has warned it will send troops
to take down Ratsiraka's crippling blockade of the capital if this is not dismantled by Sunday.
And hardliners on Ratsiraka's side, which is based in the
northeastern port city of Toamasina, have threatened to use force
to evict Ravalomanana's supporters from the city if they do not
leave by next week.
News of the imminent Dakar meeting came as a complete suprise to many following the situation in Antananarivo.
"The possibility of a Dakar meeting won't necessarily calm
things down," cautioned one foreign observer.
"On the contrary, we might see both sides trying to score points here so as to arrive in Dakar in a position of strength," he added.
"The two might start playing a double game: preparing for talks on the one hand and, at the same time, military action in the camp of Ravalomanana, and blowing up more bridges in the camp of Ratsiraka," he said.
About eight bridges have been destroyed as part of the blockade in a move to hinder the advance of Ravalomanana's troops to remove roadblocks by force.
Of late, Ravalomanana has insisted he would only attend "Dakar
II" as the recognised president of Madagascar, a concession his
rival has no far made no sign of accepting. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA
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