US welcomes choice of Ghana to head African Union

Jan 29, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — The United States hailed a decision by the African Union (AU) to make Ghanian leader John Kufuor the grouping’s next president, a post also sought by Sudan’s fiery chief, Omar al-Beshir.

“We have a terrific working relationship with President Kufuor,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said when asked to comment on the Ghanaian’s election at a summit of the 53-nation African Union in Ethiopia.

“He is a strong leader for his country and a strong representative for Africa and for the AU,” he said.

Beshir, who is locked in a standoff with the international community over the deployment of a UN-led peacekeeping force to end ethnic bloodletting in Sudan’s Darfur region, had sought the AU presidency but was forced to withdraw his candidacy when it became clear fellow leaders would not back him.

Washington had refrained from taking a public stance on the AU presidency, but clearly hinted it did not think the Sudanese leader, who has defied UN resolutions on Darfur, would be an appropriate choice.

McCormack said the crisis in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million left homeless in four years of fighting between ethnic African rebels and the Arab-led Khartoum government, should be a priority for Kufuor.

“We look forward to working with him as well as the other members of the AU to address the many important issues that confront the AU as well as the rest of the world, including in Sudan,” he said.

Last year, Washington awarded Kufuor’s government a 547 million dollar poverty-fighting grant under its Millennium Challenge Corporation program to reward good governance in the developing world.

(AFP)