SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT 'VIOLENCE AND WAR ARE CRIPPLING CONTINENT', URGES PEACE EFFORTS
Press Release
SG/T/2158
SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS FRANCO-AFRICAN SUMMIT 'VIOLENCE AND WAR ARE CRIPPLING CONTINENT', URGES PEACE EFFORTS
19981209(Received from a spokesman travelling with the Secretary-General; delayed in transmission.)
Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Paris on Thursday, 26 November, to attend the twentieth Franco-African summit.
On Friday morning (27 November), he attended the plenary session of the summit meeting of heads of State of Africa and France. In his address to the summit, the Secretary-General stated that "from Guinea-Bissau to Sierra Leone, from the Sudan to Ethiopia and Eritrea, and from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Angola, violence and war are crippling our continent". "For too long", he said, "conflict in Africa has been seen as inevitable or intractable, or both. It is neither. Conflict in Africa, as everywhere, is caused by human action, and can be ended by human action."
Many of the conflicts in Africa are "spread by self-interested leaders who use ethnic, religious or social diversities as pretext", deplored the Secretary- General. "In the wake of ethnic hatred, unspeakable crimes have been committed in Africa in recent years -- above all the genocide in Rwanda." The Secretary- General expressed his "greatest anxiety" about the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where six or more African States are now implicated. (For text of statement, see Press Release SG/SM/6807-AFR/116 of 27 November.)
The Secretary-General then attended a luncheon hosted by the Chairman of the National Assembly, Laurent Fabius, in honour of all heads of State participating in the summit.
In the afternoon, the Secretary-General held bilateral meetings with the Presidents of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Liberia, Uganda and Zambia, and with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.
That evening, he attended an official dinner hosted by French President Jacques Chirac.
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On Saturday, 28 November, the Secretary-General had a morning meeting with President Abdou Diouf of Senegal, and then attended a session of the Franco-African summit. At a working luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Lionel Jospin of France, the two men discussed the issues debated during the summit, namely, the prospects of ending the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the proposed conference on the Great Lakes region, and the situation in Iraq and the role played by the United Nations to solve peacefully the recent crisis.
Later in the day, he attended the closing session of the Summit. He brought together for the first time the parties to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for what he described as "frank and useful" discussions.
With the assistance of Salim A. Salim, Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and French President Jacques Chirac, he urged the parties to conclude a ceasefire agreement. In the end, they did find common ground. They agreed that they wanted the war to end through political agreement. They decided on a cessation of hostilities leading to a ceasefire. They were all aware of the urgent need for a political solution and were expected to sign a ceasefire within about two weeks.
In the afternoon, the Secretary-General attended a press conference given by President Chirac, but took no questions. Later, he received an honorary doctorate degree at the Sorbonne University (see Press Release SG/SM/6809 of 30 November). He attended a dinner hosted by professors of the Sorbonne in his honour.
On Sunday, 29 November, the Secretary-General met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Côte d'Ivoire, Amara Essy. That afternoon, he travelled to Algeria to complete a planned trip to North Africa which had been left incomplete in November when he returned to New York for Security Council meetings on the situation in Iraq.
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