OAU summit opens

DRC President Laurent-Desire Kabila was among more than a score of African leaders who have arrived in Ouagadougou for the two-day OAU summit beginning today, news organisations reported. A rebel delegation has also arrived in the Burkina Faso capital for talks on the fringes of the summit of the OAU’s central mechanism for conflict prevention, management and settlement. According to a draft agenda of the meeting, conflicts in the DRC, Burundi, Guinea Bissau, the Comoros and the dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea, are to be discussed. At the opening ceremony, Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaore, who is the current OAU chairman, said leaders “would be very attentive to an assessment put forward by Zambian President Frederick Chiluba” on resolving the crisis in the DRC. Meanwhile, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos hosted talks in Luanda with his pro-Kinshasa allies Zimbabwe and Namibia ahead of the OAU summit, AFP reported today. The meeting with presidents Robert Mugabe and Sam Nujoma was held behind closed doors and no details were released. Also present was Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano.