African leaders meet in Benin for security talks

COTONOU, Saturday

African leaders gathered on Saturday for talks on insecurity in the Sahel region where fresh violence in northern Mali has sparked what rights groups say is the area’s worst human rights crisis in 20 years.

As many as 25 heads of state were expected at the meeting in the small West African country of Benin.

“Many subjects will be discussed. We have many problems at the moment — be it the situation in northern Mali, in Sudan, be it elections here and there, with the risk in the Sahel,” African Union (AU) commission chief Jean Ping told reporters on arrival in Cotonou late Friday.

This would be the first AU meeting convened by Benin’s President Thomas Boni Yayi, who took over the helm of the continental body last month.

Ivory Coast leader and newly appointed head of West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS, Alassane Ouattara, told reporters on arrival in Cotonou that the AU “must deal with the crises on the continent.”

Amnesty International has said that a Tuareg offensive raging in northern Mali has sparked “the worst human rights crisis” in the area in 20 years.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Friday fighting had displaced at least 60,000 people inside Mali, while more than 44,000 others had fled to neighbouring Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger according to the UN refugee agency.