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.