African trade unions begin conference in Sudan

KHARTOUM, Jan 10, 2004 (dpa) — A congress of African trade unions opened in the Sudan capital of Khartoum on Saturday with economic integration, AIDS control and peace and development in Africa topping the agenda.

African Union chairman Alpha Oumar Konare called for an end to the conflict in Somalia and urged the warring parties there to follow the example of Sudan where peace talks are close to ending the continent’s longest civil war.

“We want them to abandon their personal interests,” Konare noted, saying their would be no future for Somalia’s warlords unless they accept the people’s wishes for democracy and diversity.

More than 20 of Somalia’s faction leaders and their representatives are meeting in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in an effort to rejuvenate the stalling peace process.

Konare, a former president of Mali, was one of the keynote speakers at the conference of the Organization of African Trade Unions Unity (OATUU).

Konare disclosed that the AU planned to issue a common African passport next year in a bid to increase integration. He said it would probably be launched in July 2005 during the African Union Summit in Khartoum.

Former Zambian President Kenneth Kauanda urged African countries to improve the dialogue between themselves, saying this was one of the best ways to combat the issues of poverty and famine as well as AIDS.

Sudanese President Omer Bashir urged his African counterparts to urgently establish a common market for Africa.