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OAU Announces Decision to Ignore anti-Libya SanctionsRTw 06/09 1628 FOCUS-OAU backs Libya, makes Nigeria democracy call (Reworks, adds quote from Mandela)By Nicholas Phythian OUAGADOUGOU, June 9 (Reuters) - The Organisation of African Unity announced on Tuesday that it would ignore certain U.N. sanctions imposed on Libya and urged Nigeria's new military ruler and its people to work together for democracy there. OAU heads of state and government at their annual summit in Burkina Faso also urged General Abdusalam Abubakar and Nigeria's people to maintain peace and stability in their country following the sudden death of his predecessor Sani Abacha. OAU spokesman and Assistant Secretary-General Pascal Gayama told a news conference that the leaders had decided on Monday to request that member states ignore sanctions with humanitarian or religious implications -- the Moslem pilgrimage to Mecca -- and those relating to official OAU business. South Africa's Nelson Mandela, in Burkina Faso to bid a pre-retirement farewell to the OAU, said the summit fully backed Libya's stance in its dispute with Britain and the United States over the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing. "The sanctions are hitting the masses. Our brother leader Muammar Gaddafi has made it clear that he is prepared to deliver suspects for trial to a neutral country," he told journalists. "We are in full agreement with Libya on this matter and we see no reason why these sanctions should be supported any longer," he said. Asked if Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi could now fly to the summit with the full support of his fellow heads of state, Gayama replied: "That for us would be fully legal." It was not clear whether Gaddafi planned to arrive before the three-day summit closed on Wednesday. The summit leaders decided to appeal to the U.N. Security Council to suspend all the sanctions, which were imposed to force Libya to surrender two of its nationals for trial in Britain or the United States for the bombing. Gayama said that the suspension should last until the International Court of Justice had been able to try the case against the two men. The bombing, over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killed 270 people. The OAU says that Libya has shown flexibility over the case, which has not been reciprocated. The statement on Nigeria expressed regret at the death by a heart attack on Monday of Abacha and ...
OAU ONLINE
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