ETHIOPIA: African Union summit opens with addresses on subject of deployemnt of African troops in Somalia and crisis in Darfur

Record ID: 1526954

  • Title: ETHIOPIA: African Union summit opens with addresses on subject of deployemnt of African troops in Somalia and crisis in Darfur
  • Date: 29th January 2007
  • Summary: (W3)ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, (JANUARY 29,2007)(REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF U.N. CONFERENCE CENTRE IN ADDIS ABABA WIDE INSIDE CONFERENCE HALL VARIOUS OF ROBERT MUGABE INSIDE HALL UGANDAN PRESIDENT YOWERI MUSEVENI KENYAN PRESIDENT MWAI KIBAKI GHANAIAN PRESIDENT JOHN KUFOUR (SOUNDBITE)(French) AU COMMISSION CHAIRMAN, ALPHA KONARE SAYING: "Today the Ethiopian troops have announced that they are continuing to pull out of Somalia. If African troops are not in place rapidly .... (indistinct). I call for a speedy mobilisation of African troops. We have need of 8,000 troops. At present 4,00 are available." SOMALI PRESIDENT ABDULLAHI YUSUF LISTENING (SOUNDBITE)(French) AU COMMISSION CHAIRMAN, ALPHA KONARE SAYING: "The more we delay the deployment of troops the greater the risk of an aggravation of the situation." SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT THABO MBEKI MBEKI AND SUDANESE PRESIDENT OMAR EL BASHIR CLOSE OF SUDANESE PRESIDENT OMAR EL BASHIR GHANAIAN PRESIDENT JOHN KUFOUR TANZANIAN PRESIDENT JAKAYA KIKWETE DELEGATES APPLAUDING VARIOUS OF RWANDAN PRESIDENT PAUL KAGAME NIGERIAN PRESIDENT OLUSEGUN OBASANJO WIDE OF DELEGATES LISTENING TO SPEECHES WIDE OF CONFERENCE HALL (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON SAYING: "The participation between the African Union and the United Nations is of central importance to how we fare on this the largest humanitarian crisis in the world." (SPEAKING ABOUT DARFUR CRISIS) FORMER EUROPEAN UNION COMMISSION HEAD ROMANO PRODI EU AID COMMISSIONER LOUIS MICHEL PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS DELEGATES
  • Embargoed: 13th February 2007 14:18
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ethiopia
  • Country: Ethiopia
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA1JHLUQ12HIJPURJ4TSF3SUW6K
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: At an African Union (AU) summit in Ethiopia AU top diplomat urges African troops to be deployed rapidly in Somalia; U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says Darfur crisis has to be addressed. The African Union (AU) met in Ethiopia on Monday (January 29) with AU commission head Alpha Oumar Konare saying that Ethiopian troops are leaving Somalia after helping the government there oust Somali Islamists in late 2006.
    Konare stressed the importance of making sure that African Union troops were put in place in Somalia to avoid an aggravation of the unstable situation there.
    It has been decided that Ghana will lead the organisation for the next year after widespread opposition to Sudan emerged because of the Darfur crisis, the AU's top diplomat said.
    The chairmanship was promised to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir a year ago but he was passed over for the post because of the violence in Darfur, which experts estimate has killed 200,000 people and driven 2.5 million from their homes.
    Critics, including rights groups and Western governments, said there had been no improvement since then and Sudan must again be barred from leading the organisation whose peacekeepers are trying to stem the violence in its vast western region.
    Konare criticised Sudan in his opening speech at the two-day summit, accusing Khartoum of attacking civilians in Darfur, where the United States says genocide has occurred.
    United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon also addressed the issue of the crisis in Darfur.
    "The participation between the African Union and the United Nations is of central importance to how we fare on this the largest humanitarian crisis in the world," Ban Ki-Moon told delegates.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register