|
Madagascar: Dakar talks fail
10/06/2002 08:24 - (SA)
Dakar - Peace talks between Madagascar's elected President Marc
Ravalomanana and political rival Didier Ratsiraka in the Senegalese capital Dakar broke up Sunday without agreement.
However, the brokers of the negotiations, Senegalese President
Abdoulaye Wade and Gabonese counterpart Omar Bongo, said a plan for ending the political crisis on the Indian Ocean island had been drawn up.
"For us, this meeting was a success," Bongo told reporters.
He said the plan - which calls for fresh parliamentary
elections to be held by the end of the year or at the latest by May 2003 - would be put to a special committee of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) charged with the prevention and management of conflicts.
Bongo said a meeting of the OAU committee would be called as
soon as possible.
The talks were dubbed "Dakar II" after a first round which ended on April 18 with the signing of a short-lived reconciliation agreement between Ratsiraka and Ravalomanana.
The two men have divided the large island off the east African
coast into rival camps since a hotly disputed presidential election in December. Almost all the armed forces have gone over to Ravalomanana, but pro-Ratsiraka governors control most provinces.
The Dakar talks take place as soldiers loyal to Ravalomanana - who was sworn in last month on the basis of a recount of the
election results under the previous reconciliation accord - were
locked in a stand-off in northern Madagascar with elite forces
backing Ratsiraka.
Ratsiraka, a former Marxist military ruler, has refused to
accept defeat at the polls and quit power. - Sapa-AFP
|
