An African leader on Thursday called indirectly on South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki to keep out of Côte d’Ivoire politics, saying a meeting the latter had set up to address the West African state’s troubles had failed.
President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal said a mini-summit organised by Mbeki this week at Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina-Faso, had ”not been a success”.
”It didn’t get anywhere,” he told Radio France Internationale from Bucharest, where he was attending a conference.
Mbeki, as African Union mediator, is attempting to jumpstart Côte d’Ivoire’s stalled peace process, but ended the talks in Ouagadougou on Tuesday with Ivorian President Laurent Gbabgo and Burkina Faso’s Blaise Compaore without releasing any results.
Wade said the session had not been a success because at least two other invited leaders, including those of Nigeria and Mali, had not turned up.
The Senegalese leader said pointedly he had ”not appreciated” Mbeki’s efforts and suggested by implication the South African leader should withdraw from Côte d’Ivoire politics and leave it to the West African economic grouping Ecowas to find solutions.
Côte d’Ivoire has been divided for four years since an attempted coup.
”If Ecowas is involved, then we should leave it to Ecowas to deal with the question, and stop setting up informal groups and sub-groups without any legitimacy,” Wade suggested.
The United Nations — main sponsor and overseer of the faltering peace process — has admitted that an October 31 deadline for elections in Côte d’Ivoire would be missed for the second time due to ”serious roadblocks”.
Ecowas and the AU have been tasked with coming up with a poll date to be submitted to the UN Security Council by October 17.
The 15-member Ecowas is due to meet early next month, followed by an AU meeting in Addis Ababa before the UN Security Council takes a decision on October 17 on Côte d’Ivoire.
Mbeki is walking a tightrope, having been rejected by rebels in Côte d’Ivoire who perceive him as biased towards Gbagbo, while Burkina Faso is seen to be closely aligned to the rebels.
Wade said on Thursday the parties in Côte d’Ivoire would have to make mutual concessions. ”They will have to decide on one election system or another and only then will there be a solution.” — AFP
