** Visit AAM's new website! http://www.africanassociation.org **
This article from NYTimes.com
has been sent to you by [log in to unmask]
/-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\
Explore more of Starbucks at Starbucks.com.
http://www.starbucks.com/default.asp?ci=1015
\----------------------------------------------------------/
New Activism by African Nations: Joining Forces to Solve Disputes
August 12, 2003
By MARC LACEY
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug. 11 - There was a time when Africa
might have condemned what happened in Liberia today as
inappropriate outside meddling.
After all, the president of Ghana, John Kufuor, was on hand
in the Liberian capital to announce the terms for Charles
Taylor's successor. What business was it of his? Troops
from Nigeria and South Africa were there as well to ensure
that the civil war had really come to an end. Shouldn't
they be back home where they belong?
Africa has a troubled history when it comes to sorting out
its own affairs. Tyrants have long been protected by an
unwritten rule of noninterference. The typical way of
persuading an unpopular leader to leave has been to
secretly support rebels.
But the departure of Mr. Taylor is being heralded as a sign
that Africa has adopted a new activist approach toward its
trouble spots and its troublemakers. "Africa is coming of
age in handling its own affairs," said Maria Nzomo,
director of the Institute of Diplomacy and International
Studies at the University of Nairobi. "There's a new sense
that Africa ought to be refereeing its own disputes."
Liberia is but one example. Africans are taking the lead in
the peace efforts under way in Congo, Burundi, Somalia and
Sudan. African peacekeeping forces are serving throughout
the continent. While African presidents are still hesitant
to criticize their own, Mr. Taylor's departure coincided
with a growing sense among his colleagues that it was time
for him to move on.
This has long been a continent where meddling by neighbors
has typically turned bad into worse. Congo, where half a
dozen foreign armies swept in to wreak havoc in 1998, is a
prime example. In Sierra Leone a long war was fueled by
outside states.
In fact, in Liberia itself the rebel movement that put Mr.
Taylor in power and the rebel movement that eventually
chased him away were backed by neighboring states.
In the cases where outside involvement might have done some
good, Africa was typically slow to act. When President
Julius Nyerere of Tanzania sent troops into Uganda to oust
Idi Amin from power in 1979, it was Mr. Nyerere's
intervention, not the Ugandan dictator's killing sprees,
that prompted a hue and cry across Africa. Mr. Amin was a
flawed leader, the continent seemed to be saying, but he
was Uganda's flawed leader.
Flawed leaders are still enjoying the protection of their
fellow African heads of state. Robert Mugabe, who in the
view of many has run Zimbabwe into the ground, has received
no stern words from the African Union, the group created
last year to replace the moribund Organization of African
Unity.
Some critics say that Africa's approach toward its leaders
really has not changed and that Mr. Taylor's departure is
not a sign of a new African engagement.
"Our leaders are taking credit for what they didn't do,"
said Moeletsi Mbeki of the South Africa Institute for
International Affairs. "African governments were not the
ones demanding that Taylor step down. It was George Bush
demanding that he step down. We still have a long way to
go."
Mr. Mbeki, brother of President Thabo Mbeki of South
Africa, has been critical of the go-slow approach toward
Mr. Mugabe adopted by his brother and other African
leaders. "Here's a guy breaking all the rules of
democracy," Mr. Mbeki said, "and no African government is
stepping forward and saying, `It's time for you to go.' "
But others see hopeful signs in the prominent role of the
Economic Community of West African States, or Ecowas, in
Mr. Taylor's departure.
"This was seen not as a Liberia problem but as a regional
problem," said J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Africa
program at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies in Washington. "That's a change."
Liberia's woes are not solved. The country is in ruins, its
political future is uncertain and the guns that were
blazing in recent weeks are still around. But it will be
Africans who will work to piece the country back together
again.
"It's a fresh start for Liberia," declared Mohamed ibn
Chambas, the executive secretary of Ecowas.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/12/international/africa/12AFRI.html?ex=1061698771&ei=1&en=f48415e44aa9f075
---------------------------------
Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine
reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like!
Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy
now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here:
http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.html
HOW TO ADVERTISE
---------------------------------
For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters
or other creative advertising opportunities with The
New York Times on the Web, please contact
[log in to unmask] or visit our online media
kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo
For general information about NYTimes.com, write to
[log in to unmask]
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, visit:
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/aam.html
AAM Website: http://www.africanassociation.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
