Opposition agree to attend reconciliation summit with Gnassingbe in Abuja - Corrected

The main opposition parties in Togo have agreed to meet President Faure Gnassingbe at a reconciliation summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Thursday to discuss their possible participation in a government of national unity. Yaovi Agboyibo, the coordinator of the six-party alliance, which opposed Gnassingbe in last month's presidential elections, confirmed in a statement on Saturday that opposition leaders would attend the Abuja meeting, convened by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the current chairman of the African Union. But Agoyibo laid down three conditions for doing a deal with Gnassingbe, the son of Togo's late president Gnassingbe Eyadema, who was officially declared winner after a campaign marred by violence and allegations of vote rigging. Firstly, Agboyibo demanded that the government stop harassing opposition supporters, allow the return of at least 24,000 people who fled to neighbouring Ghana and Benin and compensate victims who had suffered acts of persecution. Secondly, he demanded a full enquiry into opposition allegations of "grave irregularities and anomalies which marred the presidential election." Thirdly Agboyibo said the opposition wanted the international community to supervise "a genuine national dialogue through which the shape and content of a transitional power-sharing arrangement will be defined." This will be the second time that Gnassingbe finds himself in Abuja on Obasanjo's orders to try and thrash out a power-sharing deal with the opposition. On April 25, the day after polling and before the results of the presidential election were announced, Gnassingbe flew to the Nigerian capital for a meeting with Obasanjo and the exiled Togolese opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio. That summit ended with a pledge by both sides to form a government of national unity after the election, whatever the result. But the deal fell apart 24 hours later as angry opposition supporters took to the streets to protest at the father-to-son transition after the government announced Gnassingbe's victory. Official results showed him winning 60 percent of the vote, compared to 38 percent for the main opposition candidate, Emmanuel Bob-Akitani. According to the Togolese League of Human Rights, 790 people were killed and over 4,000 were injured in political violence between 28 March, when the government began updating the electoral register, and 5 May, when Gnassingbe was sworn in as president. Most of the casualties took place in street fighting that erupted on 26 April after Gnassingbe's victory was officially announced. Another human rights organisation, which is widely viewed as close to the government, the Togolese Movement for the Defence of Liberties and Civil Rights, issued an appeal at the weekend for the refugees who had fled to Ghana and Benin "to come home, resume their normal activities and participate in national reconstruction." The opposition accuse the Eyadema family clan of trying to perpetuate its stranglehold on power with the help of the army and the ruling Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party, which controls virtually all the seats in parliament. Eyadema governed Togo with an iron hand for 38 years until his death in office on 5 February. The RPT and the army then overode the constitution to appoint his son, Faure Gnassingbe as the next head of state. International pressure forced Gnassingbe to step down three weeks later so that a presidential election could be held, but this was organised by his father's ministerial team. Olympio, who has lived in Paris since escaping an assassination attempt in 1993, was barred from standing against Gnassingbe in the 24 April election on the grounds that he had been living abroad for more than 12 months.