15 DEZ 98 - 13:47

Guinea-Bissau: Lisbon Welcomes Accord on New Government

Lisbon, Dec. 15 (Lusa) - Portugal welcomed Tuesday the compromise accord for the formation of a "national unity" government in Guinea-Bissau, with a senior Lisbon official saying it was time to "begin rehabilitating" the West African country.

Assistant Secretary for Foreign Affairs Luis Amado told Lusa he felt "satisfaction" with the agreement reached in Togo, underlining that the political and military impasse in Guinea-Bissau "could not have been prolonged much longer."

He noted that Portugal had "contributed from the first hour" to the resolution of the conflict in its former colony.

15 DEZ 98 - 13:24

Guinea-Bissau: Archrivals Vieira, Mane Agree on Compromise Government Formula

Lome, Dec. 15 (Lusa) - Guinea-Bissau's president and rebel military leader reached agreement here Tuesday on the composition of a transitional government, after marathon negotiations mediated by two West African heads of state.

Following 17 hours of face-to-face talks in the Togolese capital, President Nino Vieira and insurgent Military Junta chief Brig. Ansumane Mane agreed the outgoing administration would hold five ministries, including foreign affairs, and six deputy posts.

The accord, implementing the peace agreement signed in Nigeria Nov. 2, attributed four portfolios, including the pivotal defense and interior posts, to the rebels, along with 10 deputy positions.

The compromise was mediated by Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema and his Nigerian counterpart, Gen. Abdul Abubakar, the current and preceeding heads of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), respectively.

The so-called "national unity" cabinet is to rule until presidential and legislative elections which must be held by March under the peace accord.

ECOWAS, which will deploy peacekeeping forces in Guinea-Bissau as part of the peace accord, was the final mediator for the Nov. 2 agreement that ended a five-month military mutiny, which had left Vieira largely under siege in a part of Bissau.

During the talks in Lome, mediators Eyadema and Abubakar called in Portugal's ambassador to Bissau, Francisco Henriques da Silva, who has aided the negotiations, to hear Lisbon's perspective.

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Geocities:  bissau@oocities.com

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