Africa is getting on with its own peacekeeping despite the tardiness of countries in ratifying the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, said United Nations Under Secretary General Ibrahim Gambari.
Appointed last year as special adviser on Africa to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Gambari spoke to the Mail & Guardian at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development this week.
He was speaking as UN forces replaced the Nigerian-led interim force that had held the peace in Liberia for the past month.
Conflict resolution came under the spotlight at the Tokyo meeting that drew two dozen African heads of state and government.
Gambari, who is a former foreign minister of Nigeria and ambassador to the UN for that country, praised Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo for giving refuge to former Liberian president Charles Taylor.
”The war in Liberia was unabating and Taylor was part of that problem,” said Gambari. ”It was critical to get the United States and then the UN to intervene. That would not have happened with Taylor still there. Taylor could have stayed on and this would have prolonged the war. President Obasanjo showed great courage by allowing Taylor to go into exile there. He has taken international and domestic criticism for this.
”Obasanjo did the international community a big favour by taking in Taylor. Of course, there cannot be immunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity. There cannot be peace if there is impunity for war criminals,” Gambari said.
”At the same time the realities have to be addressed. I cannot see the UN putting pressure on Obasanjo to turn over Taylor for prosecution. Obasanjo has repeatedly had to warn Taylor to stop playing politics in Liberia from his refuge in Nigeria. He has indicated that in the long term Taylor might even return to Liberia.”
Gambari said Africa’s image would be enhanced it it were able to deal with its own conflict situations. ”In the absence of the Peace and Security Council, Africa is already getting on with this. Nigeria and South Africa are very active in areas like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia. Even poor countries like Mozambique and Ethiopia are making a significant contribution.
”African-run peace initiatives are also making progress in Sudan and Somalia.”