Mbeki Counsels African Leaders On Conflicts

Daily Trust (Abuja)
NEWS
December 10, 2003
Posted to the web December 10, 2003

By Ruby Rabiu

The South African president, Mr Thabo Mbeki has urged African countries to get
rid of mercenaries in order to curtail crisis and pave way for development and
security.
President Thabo Mbeki said mercenaries hired by some countries for wars
normally becomes jobless after the war, saying the state of African economy,
governments found it difficult to engage them on other duties.
President Thabo Mbeki, who was speaking at the inauguration lecture of the
National War College course 12 on "the African Renaissance: Challenges of
Development and Security in the new millennium" said mercenaries always create
problems rather than solving them.
He said mercenaries has become a normal character of most West African
countries, a situation which he said encouraged poverty, violence and
insecurity in the country.
He said the African union, as part of it's activities, "signed an agreement on
the establishment of the peace and security council of the African Union (AU)
as an important step towards the attainment of the goal of peace and
development on our continent."
He added that "the council has taken a standing decision for the prevention,
management and resolution of conflicts. The council will also have as part of
it's structures, a panel of the wise, an early warning acting as an African
standby force and military staff country.
Speaking earlier, commandant, National War College, Rear Admiral A. G. Adedeji
described the institution as only one of it's kind in the sub-Saharan Africa
and available to all participant in the continent.
Rear Admiral A. G. Adedeji said so far 578 participants have been on course in
the college with 20 per cent from other African countries, adding that with
such number of foreigners, the institution can "justifiable claim the position
of a continental training institution for the military at the strategic level."

   

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