Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore is ready to support efforts by his Togolese counterpart, Gnassingbe Eyadema, to secure peace in Sierra Leone, Togolese Communications Minister Koffi Panou said on Monday. He was speaking shortly after talks with Compaore in Ouagadougou, the Burkina Faso capital.
ECOMOG, the West African peace monitoring group in Sierra Leone, and others have accused Burkina Faso and Liberia of helping RUF rebels, charges which have been denied by the leaders of these countries.
But recalling news reports of Ukrainian arms shipments to the RUF through Ouagadougou, the Sierra Leonean spokesman Septimus Kaikai indicated his government stood by its accusation of Burkinabe involvement.
"As OAU chairman Compaore should not be involved" in such activities, Kaikai told IRIN. "Compaore should, as OAU chairman, do everything possible to ensure that there's peace in Africa," Kaikai added.
Unless there was peace within the sub-region and within the OAU, he said, "there would be no peace in any one country".
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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