THE COMMISSION OF THE AFRICAN UNION ISSUES THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION REGARDING THE INFORMAL CONSULTATIONS ON CHAD AND KENYA, HELD BY THE PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL OF THE AFRICAN UNION ON 4 FEBRUARY 2008
The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU) held informal consultations on Monday, 4 February 2008, on the developments in Chad and Kenya, in light of the decisions adopted by the 10th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 31 January to 2 February 2008.
During the consultations, Council was briefed by the Commissioner for Peace and Security, as well as by some members of Council, on the ongoing developments relating to Chad and Kenya.
With respect to Chad, Council was briefed on the developments in that country, particularly in the capital, N’djamena. In this regard, Council reiterated AU’s rejection of any unconstitutional change in accordance with the principles enshrined in the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the Algiers Decision, the Lome Declaration on Unconstitutional Changes of Government and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.
Council welcomed the proposed dispatch of senior officials, including senior military officials, by the Republic of Congo and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to Chad, within the context of the decision taken by the AU Assembly, which mandated President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo and the Libyan Leader, Muammar Al-Gaddafi, to engage the Chadian parties with a view to ending the fighting and taking initiatives aimed at finding a lasting solution to the current crisis in that country.
Regarding Kenya, Council welcomed the decision taken recently by the Summit of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to dispatch an IGAD ministerial delegation to Kenya, in support of the AU initiative led by Mr Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General.
Council also urged the Kenyan parties to commit themselves to ending violence and to creating conditions for dialogue, as they undertook in the Agreement that they recently signed, under the auspices of Mr Kofi Annan and his team.
Addis Ababa, Febraury 4, 2008
