Annan ends visit, urges dialogue to resolve conflicts

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan ended a three-nation African visit on Saturday in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, where he stressed the importance of dialogue in resolving the conflicts affecting the continent.

Annan, who arrived in Abuja on Friday from war-torn Sudan, had talks with senior Nigerian officials, leaders of civil society organisations and representatives of UN agencies, before meeting President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday.

"We discussed conflicts around Africa, we discussed the issue of AIDS, the development of ECOWAS and the African Union and other issues of direct concern to Nigeria," he said of his meeting with Obasanjo. He was speaking at a news conference before his departure.

The Secretary-General, who was in South Africa earlier in the week to witness the birth of the African Union, which replaces the Organisation of African Unity, said hard work was required to
lay "a very strong foundation for a healthy Africa".

HIV/AIDS was not a challenge for governments alone but for everyone, he said, calling for more efforts to raise the funds required to reverse the impact of the pandemic.

On the conflict in Liberia, he said the UN was studying a request to lift the arms embargo on Charles Taylor’s government. He added, however: "I am not sure the solution to the Liberian crisis is for the government to acquire more weapons. Rather, it should be for all parties to genuinely dialogue and iron out their differences."

UN officials said Annan’s visit to Nigeria was primarily to urge the strengthening of democracy and the use of dialogue in dealing with conflict in the country, where there have been many signs of restiveness in recent years.