GUEBUZA DOWNPLAYS ABSENCE OF KEY WESTERN LEADERS

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza has played down the absence of the French president, the British prime minister and the German Chancellor, Nicolas Sarkozy, David Cameron and Angela Merkel respectively, from the Third Africa-European Union Summit, held in Tripoli on Monday and Tuesday.Speaking to the Mozambican reporters who covered the event, Guebuza said “we believe that all who came here, both from Africa and the EU, are properly accredited to speak on behalf of their countries.”He pointed out that “In Africa there are also many heads of state who did not attend the summit”'News circulated by the international press suggested that the absence of the three European leaders was due to fear that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide by the International Criminal Court (ICC), might attend the summit.However, al-Bashir did not participate in the summit, since the day before it was due to start the Libyan authorities withdrew the invitation that was addressed to the Sudanese president.Despite the absence of the three European leaders, who govern the three largest EU economies, Guebuza expressed his satisfaction with the outcome of the event, saying there were many positive developments.“Yes, this summit was worth it,” said Guebuza, explaining that gatherings of this nature are not held in order to sign contracts or funding agreements. According to Guebuza the EU remains interested in contributing to investment in Africa, and fighting against unemployment on the continent.During the summit, Guebuza held bilateral contacts with some European countries, including some that had once belonged to the Soviet bloc, and who expressed their interest in reactivating cooperation ties with Mozambique.“Some countries that formerly belonged to the socialist bloc, such as Hungary and Latvia, stressed the need to resume the cooperation that we had before they joined the European Union. Many of our cadres were trained in those countries”, said Guebuza.Questioned about the importance and benefits to Mozambique of these events, Guebuza said that they help create a friendly atmosphere for the country, which is seen as a model of transition from a state of conflict and war to a state of peace, and which has also proved able to reorganize its economy to achieve enviably high levels of growth.Another advantage is the opportunity to meet with other statesmen and to review the cooperation agreements already signed.“I had a meeting with the Portuguese Prime Minister (Jose Socrates) and what we did was to check the implementation phase of the agreements that we have signed about investments”, said Guebuza.