Annan Deplores Mutinous Soldiers In Guinea-Bissau

Annan Deplores Actions Of Mutinous Soldiers In Guinea-Bissau

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today deplored the action by a group of mutinous soldiers in Guinea-Bissau that led to the death Wednesday of the country's armed forces Chief of Staff.

The Secretary-General has asked his Representative in Guinea-Bissau, João Bernardo Honwana, to continue to lend the necessary support to help all parties resolve the crisis peacefully and quickly, Mr. Annan's spokesman said.

Last week the Security Council stressed that the country's political leaders, public institutions and authorities must persevere with the peace process beyond next year's scheduled presidential elections if they want to reap all the benefits.

Ambassador Juan Antonio Yáñez-Barnuevo of Spain, the Council's President for September, said last Wednesday that a donors' conference to be held before the end of this year should boost efforts to promote stability in Guinea-Bissau, which has been plagued by both formal conflict and long-running political and social tensions during its post-independence history.

"We encourage [the authorities] to persevere…on what is a good example of what can be done in a peace process in a post-conflict situation," he said.

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