Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Comoros: Power‐Sharing Talks

Comoros: Power‐Sharing Talks The international community has, on request by the Union President, succeeded in gathering the various Comoran parties around the negotiating table after power‐sharing talks were suspended. The deadlock between the Union and Ndzuwani Island (Anjouan Island) on the deployment in Mutsamudu (capital of Anjouan Island) of a detachment of the armed forces had led to the seizure of a consignment of military equipment originally intended for the regional division of the AND (National Development Army). This latest round of negotiations that began on January 23rd is possibly the last chance for the talks. Negotiations on power‐sharing that have been ongoing for the last five months were suspended over the nature and type of equipment that should be issued to the Island Security Forces (FSI). The Union would not hear of the FSI being armed with essentially, war equipment while the islands, for their part, were calling for appropriate armament to guarantee internal security. The parties had clearly spelt out conditions on which they would return to the negotiating table. For example, the islands were asking for the implementation of agreements already signed, particularly those on justice and the management of state corporations. For its part, the Union demanded the return of arms seized by the Anjouan authorities. A fruitless discussion followed. The AU special envoy, Mozambican Francesco Madeira, put to use all his mediation skills to bring the parties back to the negotiating table. Speaking during a press conference following the resumption of negotiations, he said, ‘‘The Union is no longer demand the return of the arms seized in Ndzuwani as a condition (to return to the talks). By the same token, the islands’ representatives are no longer demanding the strict application of [previous] agreements’’. The same day, representatives of the international community reopened negotiations in Beit‐Salam with discussions on the crucial issue of the deployment of internal security forces and the type of armament they should be issued with. During the talks Madeira insisted, ‘‘Comorans can no longer rely on an election peacekeeping force’’ similar to the one sent by South Africa during the elections of last May 2006. ‘‘The [international] community will support the Comoros, but it is up to Comorans themselves to provide security for the next elections’’, he said. ( Al Watwan, Moroni 2/2: BBC Mon. ) New Opposition party leader p. 16932C http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Africa Research Bulletin Political Social and Cultural Series Wiley

Comoros: Power‐Sharing Talks

Download PDF
1 page

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/comoros-power-sharing-talks-7GAnBLZfG0

References (0)

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0001-9844
eISSN
1467-825X
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-825X.2007.00838.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The international community has, on request by the Union President, succeeded in gathering the various Comoran parties around the negotiating table after power‐sharing talks were suspended. The deadlock between the Union and Ndzuwani Island (Anjouan Island) on the deployment in Mutsamudu (capital of Anjouan Island) of a detachment of the armed forces had led to the seizure of a consignment of military equipment originally intended for the regional division of the AND (National Development Army). This latest round of negotiations that began on January 23rd is possibly the last chance for the talks. Negotiations on power‐sharing that have been ongoing for the last five months were suspended over the nature and type of equipment that should be issued to the Island Security Forces (FSI). The Union would not hear of the FSI being armed with essentially, war equipment while the islands, for their part, were calling for appropriate armament to guarantee internal security. The parties had clearly spelt out conditions on which they would return to the negotiating table. For example, the islands were asking for the implementation of agreements already signed, particularly those on justice and the management of state corporations. For its part, the Union demanded the return of arms seized by the Anjouan authorities. A fruitless discussion followed. The AU special envoy, Mozambican Francesco Madeira, put to use all his mediation skills to bring the parties back to the negotiating table. Speaking during a press conference following the resumption of negotiations, he said, ‘‘The Union is no longer demand the return of the arms seized in Ndzuwani as a condition (to return to the talks). By the same token, the islands’ representatives are no longer demanding the strict application of [previous] agreements’’. The same day, representatives of the international community reopened negotiations in Beit‐Salam with discussions on the crucial issue of the deployment of internal security forces and the type of armament they should be issued with. During the talks Madeira insisted, ‘‘Comorans can no longer rely on an election peacekeeping force’’ similar to the one sent by South Africa during the elections of last May 2006. ‘‘The [international] community will support the Comoros, but it is up to Comorans themselves to provide security for the next elections’’, he said. ( Al Watwan, Moroni 2/2: BBC Mon. ) New Opposition party leader p. 16932C

Journal

Africa Research Bulletin Political Social and Cultural Series – Wiley

Published: Mar 1, 2007

There are no references for this article.