MONDAY, 4.00PM
AS peace talks between rival Congolese factions continued in the absence of President Pascal Lissouba in the Gabonese capital of Libreville on Monday, Congo’s constitutional council announced that elections set for July 27 had been postponed and Lissouba’s mandate extended.
The delegation representing Lissouba’s rival and predecessor Denis Sassou Nguesso turned up for the talks on Monday, along with Gabonese Prime Minister Paulin Obame Nguema and United Nations and Organisation of African Unity special envoy Mohammed Sahnoun, who is co-mediator in the crisis alongside Gabonese President Omar Bongo. Also attending was the delegation representing Brazzaville Mayor Bernard Kolelas. It was unknown whether Lissouba’s delegation planned to appear for the talks, which began on Friday, but were adjourned until Monday to allow consultations in Brazzaville.
Supporters of Sassou Nguesso called the postponement and the extension of Lissouba’s mandate a “political maneuvre designed to torpedo the negotiations”.
The conflict in Brazzaville has cost between 1 000 and 2 000 lives over six weeks, and the question of elections been central to the conflict, which erupted on June 5 when government forces tried to disarm Sassou Nguesso’s militia ahead of the scheduled presidential vote.