Annan calls for peaceful resolution to Madagascar political crisis.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has urged Madagascar's President Didier Ratsiraka and opposition leader Marc Ravalomanana to find "a peaceful and constitutional resolution to their impasse," a UN spokesman said today.

Spokesman Fred Eckhard told journalists at UN Headquarters that the Secretary-General had spoken to both leaders in the past 36 hours by telephone. According to the spokesman, Mr. Annan was considering ways the United Nations might help resolve the trouble that has plagued the island country as a result of a dispute over the results of its December 2001 Presidential election.

On 28 January, the Security Council issued a press statement voicing its concern over the current unrest in Madagascar, which it described as having the potential to undermine peace and stability in the country and the region.