ECLARATION ON THE SITUATION IN GUINEA-BISSAU

The Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU), at its 35th meeting, held on 25 July 2005, discussed the prevailing situation in Guinea-Bissau.

The Council firmly condemned the attacks perpetrated by armed elements on civil and military infrastructures on 16 July 2005 in Bissau.

The Council welcomed the efforts deployed by the current Chairperson of the AU, President Olusegun Obasanjo, as well as by the ECOWAS. The Council also congratulated President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal for his mediation efforts that brought together the three leading candidates contesting in the first round of the presidential elections held on 19 June 2005, and which resulted in Kumba Yala’s acceptance of the results of the elections, thus helping to reduce tension in Guinea-Bissau.

The Council further expressed delight at the holding of the second round of the presidential elections in a relatively calm atmosphere, on 24 July 2005. The Council urged the candidates to the second round of the elections, namely Joao Bernardo Vieira and Malam Bacai Sanha, and their followers to refrain from any action likely to disturb the electoral process, to accept the results in conformity with the commitments made by both candidates, and to submit all electoral complaints to the appropriate mechanisms.