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UNITED NATIONS – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday the United Nationswants an immediate restoration of the ousted government inGuinea-Bissau, which was overthrown by the military last month. He told the General Assembly that he asked the U.N. envoy inGuinea-Bissau to work closely with the African Union, the WestAfrican regional group ECOWAS, and the Community ofPortuguese-speaking Countries to resolve the crisis. "As international partners, we seek an immediate return toconstitutional order," Ban said. Guinea-Bissau was just weeks away from holding a presidentialrunoff election when soldiers attacked the front-runner's home andarrested him along with the country's interim president on April12. No leader in nearly 40 years of independence has finished histime in office in Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony onAfrica's western coast that has long been plagued by coups. There are divisions among the key regional and internationalplayers on how to deal with the coup. ECOWAS Commissioner Salamatu Hussaini-Suleiman, whose organizationhas taken the lead in mediating, told the Security Council onMonday that immediately restoring the constitutional order thatexisted before the coup could lead to civil war. Following the coup, military leaders decided with 26 fringe partiesto establish a National Transitional Council to rule the countryfor two years. But ECOWAS — the Economic Community of West African States— rejected their agreement and instead demanded a 12-monthtransition that would include the coup leaders in key positions andculminate in a presidential election. ECOWAS leaders alsoauthorized the deployment of a 600-strong standby force whichHussaini-Suleiman said "is imminent." Guinea-Bissau's Foreign Minister Mamadu Saliu Djalo, who was out ofthe country when soldiers seized the presidency, warned theSecurity Council that the ECOWAS proposal may aggravate thecountry's problems and "legitimizes the coup d'etat by notendorsing the continuation of the electoral process for the secondround of voting, nor the legitimate authorities serving until April11." He said the proposal goes against ECOWAS's "zero-tolerance"principle of coups. On Tuesday, the Security Council urged ECOWAS to implement its"zero-tolerance" policy and pursue measures to restore thelegitimate government. The council reiterated its strong condemnation of the coup andcalled on the secretary-general "to engage actively" with ECOWASand other international organizations to "enable the restoration ofthe constitutional order" and the resumption of the electoralprocess. It also reiterated its "readiness to consider targeted sanctionsagainst the perpetrators and supporters of the military coup,should this situation remain unresolved." Ban told the General Assembly on Wednesday that he was concernedabout reports of human rights violations by the military junta. "Let me speak clearly: those responsible for the coup andsubsequent violations of human rights will be held accountable bythe international community," he said. I am an expert from stroke-outboardmotors.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China 4 Stroke Outboard Motors , China Hidea Outboard Motor, Short Shaft Outboard Motors,and more.
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