Carter Appeals for African Talks to End Civil Wars

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter appealed Tuesday to African leaders to open talks with rebel movements to end six civil wars raging on the continent.

“My plea is that there be a concerted effort made . . . by leaders involved in these conflicts to attempt to find a way to begin peace talks, initiate cease-fires and move people toward freedom from oppression,” Carter said, addressing the second and final day of a summit meeting of the Organization of African Unity in the Ethiopian capital.

Civil wars are currently raging in Ethiopia, Uganda, Liberia, Sudan, Somalia, Angola, Mozambique and Morocco. All except Morocco are members of the 51-nation OAU, a body set up in 1963 to promote unity and cooperation across the continent.

Carter, who has previously acted as mediator in two of the continent’s most intractable wars--in Sudan and Ethiopia--said the biggest obstacle to lasting peace talks is that independent international organizations or uninvolved countries are prohibited or deterred by African governments from contacting insurgent groups.

The urgent need to solve regional conflicts and get Africa back on sound socioeconomic ground was one of the major themes of the 26th annual OAU heads of state summit.