PANA Summit Condemns Use of Sanctions for Benefit of Superpowers Panafrican News Agency (Dakar) February 13, 2001 Posted to the web February 14, 2001 Yahya el Hassan Khartoum, Sudan Leaders of the Community of Sahelian- Saharan States Tuesday condemned the tendency of using sanctions to serve the interests of some superpowers. In a declaration issued at the end of their third summit conference in Khartoum, the heads of state of the 15-nation grouping have also called on the UN Security Council to lift sanctions on some of their member states. Specifically, they called for the immediate cancellation of UN sanctions imposed on Libya in connection with the 1988 bombing of a Pan American airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland. "In this respect we stress the need for the immediate and final lifting of the economic embargo imposed on the Libyan Jamahiria and the release of citizen Abdulbasit el Magrahi whose conviction was legally baseless and politically motivated," the declaration says. The two-day summit has issued a framework of cooperation among the Community partner states and praised the role played by the leader of the Libyan revolution, Muammar Khadafi, "in the peaceful resolution of conflicts and disputes within the community and elsewhere in the African continent." "We the community members reaffirm our commitment to the principles embodied in the community's treaty that emphasise the member states' determination upon economic, social, cultural integration and the preservation of security, peace and stability of the Sahel-Sahara region. "We pledge to establish this cooperation on a solid base of scientific, practical and strategic planning," the declaration says. The community leaders have reaffirmed their commitment to the principles of justice, equality and human rights "that emanate from the spiritual and cultural values of our peoples." They hailed the recent call by Tunisian President Zain el Abdeen Bin Ali for the establishment of an international fund of solidarity to fight poverty. Expressing concern over the alarming environmental degradation in some of the member states, the heads of state pledged support to measures taken to combat desertification and to control pest infestation in collaboration with specialised international agencies. "We reaffirm the need for challenging the continuous environmental degradation and water resources depletion through the establishment of joint projects for environment protection". On trade, the summit has called for the speedy formulation of treaties and protocols for border trade and the facilitation of communications and transport among the member states. The Community of Sahelian-Saharan States groups Libya, Senegal, Chad, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Djibouti, the Niger, Mali, Tunisia, Egypt, Nigeria and Morocco. The summit elected Sudanese President Omar el Bashir new chairman of the community's presidential council, replacing Chadian President Idris Debbi. **** Libya News and Views Thursday, 15 February, 2001: U.N. Security Council members appear willing for now to give the U.S. and Britain time to negotiate with Libya on their outstanding demands before pressing to have U.N. sanctions against Tripoli permanently lifted. The council met behind closed doors for over two hours Tuesday to hear from the U.S. and British ambassadors on their first talks with the Libyan ambassador since a Scottish court convicted a Libyan intelligence agent, Abdel-Basset al-Megrahi, in the Lockerbie bombing. The powerful 15-member council, which includes veto-wielding United States and Britain, took no action. And no action was immediately expected as long as the U.S.-British-Libyan talks progress ``positively and rapidly toward a consensus solution,'' said Tunisian Ambassador Said Ben Mustapha, the current council president. [AP] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thursday, 15 February, 2001: Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi has hailed the results of the third summit of the Community of Sahelian-Saharan States (COMESSA), which wound up Tuesday in Khartoum, Sudan. According to Qadhafi, the summit achieved fruitful and positive results not only towards the political and economic integration of member states, but more especially towards the African Union of which he is the brainchild. At a news conference held Tuesday evening in the Sudanese capital, Qadhafi commended the adhesion of five new countries to the community. The five new members are Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Somalia. COMESSA now covers more than half of Africa with more than 300 million people, he noted. [PANA] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thursday, 15 February, 2001: Conoco Inc. Chairman Archie Dunham said Tuesday he was ``very optimistic'' U.S. President George W. Bush will lift long-standing sanctions against Libya, allowing U.S. oil firms to return to the energy-rich nation. Dunham, also chief executive of the Houston oil firm, expressed hope that the arrival of former Texas oilmen Bush and Cheney to the White House could pave the way for ending the 15-year-old sanctions against Libya. ``I think this administration is more willing to re-look at sanctions policy, which has been a total failure,'' Dunham told reporters on a tour of a refinery installation in eastern Venezuela. [Reuters] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thursday, 15 February, 2001: Indonesia said Wednesday the U.N. should lift sanctions against Tripoli following the conviction of a Libyan intelligence agent in the Lockerbie bombing. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry said Libya had complied with international demands over the case. "It is therefore now the time for the U.N. to lift completely the sanctions against the Libyan government," the ministry said in a statement. The embargo had caused profound suffering to innocent people, it said. [AP] _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
