The Africa Group of Ambassadors at the United Nations has described the military option to the crisis in Cote d’Ivoire as “no option”.
\nIt has also described the refugee situation as a “matter of concern” and said the victory of Mr Alhassane Ouattara as the President-elect of Cote d’Ivoire should be respected by all.
\nThe position was contained in an official correspondence from the Ghana Mission in New York to the Foreign Ministry in Accra at the end of a meeting held at the behest of the African members of the UN Security Council, namely, Gabon, Nigeria and South Africa.
\nThe letter, signed on behalf of the Head of Mission, Ambassador Leslie Christian, linked the African group’s position to Ghana’s long espoused position which kicked against the military option and said it appeared to have vindicated Ghana’s stance, although the solution, to the crisis seemed to be highly elusive.
\nEarlier this year, President J.E.A. Mills told journalists at a media forum in Accra that the military option was not the best solution to the Ivorian crisis.
\nHe explained that Ghana was unable to contribute troops to such a military option because Ghana already had troops in Abidjan as part of the UN peacekeeping force, adding that Ghana should also consider the safety of its nationals in Cote d’Ivoire, which numbered about one million, in any military invasion.
\nThe letter said the meeting was to enable the three countries to brief the group on the latest African position on Cote d’Ivoire adopted at the Security Council and what appeared to be an emerging consensus in the council.
\nIt said all the African Ambassadors at the meeting who commented on the issue took turns to commend the African members of the Security Council for the diligent and pragmatic position taken.
\n“In the particular case of Burkina Faso, the Ambassador intimated that the mandate of President Blaise Campoare of Burkina Faso as ECOWAS mediator in the Cote d’lvoire crisis, ended with the holding of the recent elections in that country,” the letter said.
\nIt said information available to the Ghana Mission in New York pointed to the fact that ECOWAS had planned to field two missions to some major capitals in North America and Europe comprising the Presidents of Sierra Leone and Mali, and on the other hand, to Moscow, Beijing and New Delhi, led by the President of the ECOWAS Commission.
\n“While it is not clear whether the North American leg of the mission will come on, our information is that regarding the Asian segment, only India appears to have responded positively to the planned ECOWAS mission to Asia and Moscow,” it said
\n“The latest development appears to be that President Campoare of Burkina Faso, the Permanent Secretary at the Nigerian Foreign Ministry and the President of the ECOWAS Commission are embarking on a mission to London and Paris this week. However, since London is receiving the delegation only at ministerial level, it is likely that President Campoare will only travel to Paris,” it added.
\nFurthermore, the letter said, indications were that ECOWAS Chiefs of Staff would meet this week in Bamako, Mali, on the Cote d’lvoire situation.
\n“The United Nations says it is looking up to ECOWAS and the African Union to help find an answer to the current stalemate. The upcoming AU Summit at the end of January 2011 should, therefore, be critical in the ongoing efforts to help bring closure to the current electoral crisis in Cote d’Ivoire,” it added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Africa Group of Ambassadors at the United Nations has described the military option to the crisis in Cote d’Ivoire as “no option”. It has also described the refugee situation as a “matter of concern” and said the victory of Mr Alhassane Ouattara as the President-elect of Cote d’Ivoire should be respected by all. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n