African Leaders Hail Kufuor -Agyepong

AFRICAN leaders who attended the just-ended summit of the African Union (AU), have commended the Chairman of ECOWAS, President J.A. Kufuor, for his immense contribution to conflict resolution in the West African sub-region.

All the leaders who spoke at the final plenary session of the summit also pledged to assist the sub-region to deal with the conflicts which were drawing back the wheels of progress of West Africa. The leaders included Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Sam Nujoma of Namibia and Abdulaziz Bouteflika of Algeria.

The Press Secretary to the President Mr. Kwabena Agyepong told newsmen after the meeting that the commendation by the African leaders came after President Kufuor had given an overview of the situations in Liberia and La Cote d'lvoire. He said the President told the summit that ECOWAS, was preparing to send stabilization force to Liberia to keep the relative peace prevailing there.

According to Mr. Agyepong, the President said the request by President Charles Taylor of Liberia for the stabilization force was not a condition being imposed on ECOWAS. He quoted the President as saying that somebody from Taylor's government would be chosen to succeed him during the transitional period until elections were held in January next year. That, the President said, would eliminate any anticipated vacuum and pave the way for further destabilization of the country.