Sanha chosen as interim president

Malam Sanha, president of Guinea Bissau's legislature, the Assembleia Nacional Popular, was chosen on Tuesday as interim president until new general and presidential elections are held in November, news reports said. Sanha was nominated at a meeting he had on Tuesday with Military Junta leader Brigadier General Ansumane Mane and political parties. Lusa said the assembly was expected to meet on Wednesday to ratify his appointment as successor to President Joao Bernardo Viera, ousted on Friday after just over 11 months of political and military turmoil. In an effort to head off possible international isolation of Guinea Bissau, Sanha, speaking over Portuguese Renascenca radio, appealed to the former colonial power, Portugal, to "do as it has done up to now": make the international community understand that there was no coup and rally international support for the West African country. "I, myself in particular, will do my upmost to ensure that this uprising will be for the good of the people of Guinea Bissau and, above all, for the consolidation of democracy and development," Lusa quoted Sanha as saying. His fears appear to be well founded. Nations like France and Mali have condemned the Junta's action. So too have the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard, said on Tuesday that the UN was "reviewing the options" with regard to its involvement in the peace process. The UN had opened a Peace-building Support Office (UNOGBIS) in the country and recently appointed Cameroonian diplomat Samuel Nana-Kinkam as its head. AFRICA: First ladies call for peaceful resolution of conflicts African first ladies on Tuesday appealed to the continent's political leaders to show more commitment to "non-violent options in the resolution of political conflicts", PANA reported. In a 15-point declaration issued at the end of a two-day meeting in Abuja, they also drew attention to the "misery and deprivation of refugees and displaced persons" created by the many conflicts on the continent. The meeting was attended by the first ladies of Chad, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda, who appealed for greater responsiveness by governments, the international community, NGOs and people of goodwill "to help assuage the sufferings of this class of people", PANA added. The first ladies also underlined the importance of "promoting fundamental human rights and democracy as means of creating peaceful and viable societies", PANA said.