BAN WELCOMES AGREEMENT TO RESOLVE POLITICAL CRISIS IN MADAGASCAR

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the power-sharing agreement reached in Madagascar and urged all sides to work together to ensure that a new government of national unity is quickly installed and a process leading to credible elections can be established.

Mr. Ban "congratulates the four leaders – Andry Rajoelina, Marc Ravalomanana, Didier Ratsiraka and Albert Zafy – for committing to a peaceful transition under a government of national unity," according to a statement issued by his spokesperson.

The statement follows the deal reached yesterday during talks in Maputo, Mozambique, that were mediated by that country's former president Joaquim Chissano and a joint team comprising the United Nations, the African Union (AU), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the International Organization of the Francophonie.

Mr. Ban urged the leaders in the Indian Ocean country to agree quickly on the composition of the government of national unity "and on the establishment of the institutions of the transition leading to credible elections and the restoration of democracy and the rule of law."

The Secretary-General thanked Mr. Chissano and the other mediators for their efforts and joined them in calling on "all political actors in Madagascar to build on the Maputo consensus and to work for the prompt implementation of the agreements."

Since the start of the year Madagascar has been engulfed by political tensions, which have led to widespread violence and killings and numerous politically motivated arrests.

Mr. Ravalomanana resigned as president in early March amid a dispute with Mr. Rajoelina, the mayor of the capital, Antananarivo, and now the leader of the country.
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MADAGASCAR: UN TAKES PART IN NEW TALKS AIMED AT ENDING POLITICAL CRISIS

A senior United Nations official is participating today in fresh talks aimed at peacefully resolving the ongoing political crisis in the Indian Ocean nation of Madagascar.

Tiébilé Dramé, the senior UN political adviser on Madagascar, is part of an international mediation team that is brokering the talks in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, a UN spokesperson told journalists today.

Following weeks of unrest in Madagascar near the start of this year, President Marc Ravalomanana resigned in early March, amid a dispute with the mayor of the capital, Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina, who now leads the country.

The crisis led to numerous politically motivated arrests, widespread violence and killings, and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged all sides to resume dialogue in a bid to end their differences.

Today's mediation efforts in Maputo are being chaired by former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and they also include envoys from the African Union and La Francophonie.
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