African leaders hail moroccan king's initiative to host Mano River reconciliation summit
The initiative taken by King Mohammed VI to convene this week in Rabat a reconciliation summit between the presidents of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, Charles Taylor, Lansana Cont?, and Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, was hailed by several African leaders.
On Friday, Guinean president, Lansana Conte, praised the Moroccan king for his action in favor of peace and stability in the African Mano river sub-region and Morocco's leading role in bringing peace between the three countries.
Conte went on that all arrangements decided in Rabat will be respected, as King Mohammed VI will be supervising this process.
The same satisfaction was expressed on Thursday by Liberian president, Charles Taylor, who went to Senegal to brief president Abdoulaye Wade on the summit outcome. Taylor hailed the initiative by king Mohammed VI whose country, he stressed, has a neutral stance on the situation in the Mano river sub-region, being neither member of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) nor of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which gathers 15 countries, including the three Mano River Union countries.
In Libya, secretary of the people's general committee for African unity, Abdeslam Triki, welcomed the initiative and expressed his country's backing to efforts by Morocco and other countries in this region.
The summit was also welcomed by the United Nations secretary general and security council who congratulated Morocco for the initiative and hailed the decisions reached in Rabat.
Council President Ambassador Adolfo Aguilar Zinser of Mexico said in a press statement that the 15-member body "congratulated those who had facilitated this long due summit meeting, particularly the Kingdom of Morocco."
U.N Secretary-General, Kofi Annan expressed his gratitude to His Majesty King Mohammed VI for the timely good offices role he has played and will continue to play in the future for the cause of peace and stability in the Mano River Union sub-region.
The three presidents who held a reconciliation summit on Wednesday adopted a set of measures concerning security along their common borders, repatriation of refugees and assistance to displaced persons, and reactivation of the Mano River Union administration.
In a press release circulated after the summit, they underlined the historic character of the Summit meeting which, they said, "thanks to the readiness of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, opened optimistic perspectives for a forthcoming sustainable peace in the Mano River Union sub-region," they called upon the international community and the United Nations to support and help implement the decisions adopted during the Rabat Summit.
The Mano River Union, set up in 1970 in a bid to improve trade relations and exchanges between the three countries, was however paralyzed due to strained relations between the three member countries, which accuse each other of launching attacks against their respective territories. Mano River flows down from north-western Liberia, at the border with Guinea, runs along Sierra Leone's borders and flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
