Tag: Paris summit

  • Summit on Boko Haram opens in Paris

    Summit on Boko Haram opens in Paris

    A security summit to discuss strategies to tackle the threat from Boko Haram has opened in Paris, France.

    The meeting was called by French President, Francois Hollande, after the sect abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, last month.

    President Goodluck Jonathan, who is attending the talks, had to call off a visit to the town where the girls were seized for security reasons.

    As West African leaders arrived, reports emerged of suspected Boko Haram attack in Cameroon.

    Ten people are reported missing.

    One person was hurt when militants attacked a Chinese camp near Cameroon’s porous border with north-eastern Nigeria.

    Those missing had been working for Chinese company Sinohydro, China’s state news agency Xinhua said.

    The BBC reports that militants have staged several attacks in Cameroon; last year they kidnapped several members of a French family, who were later released.

    Boko Haram released a video earlier this week showing more than 100 of the girls and offering an exchange for prisoners. Their relatives have called for their unconditional release.

    The girls, a mixture of Christians and Muslims, were seized on April 14 from their hostels at the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibook.

    President Jonathan has ruled out negotiations over their possible release, government officials say.

    President  Hollande will open the Saturday’s summit, and the leaders of Nigeria’s neighbours – Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Chad – were scheduled to attend the talks. Representatives from the United Kingdom, United States and European Union were also taking part.

    A statement before the summit said delegates at the meeting will “discuss fresh strategies for dealing with the security threat posed by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in West and Central Africa.”

    UK Foreign Secretary William Hague told the BBC from Paris that Cameroon and Nigeria in particular had an important role to play in pooling their intelligence.

    “There are many borders here and they are porous. The first focus of everything we’re doing is about the girls now, but that requires these countries to work together. Cameroon and Nigeria… have not enjoyed strong positive relations in recent years.”

    Mr. Hollande discussed the issue on Friday in a phone call with US President Barack Obama.

    The safe return of the 223 girls was now one of America’s main priorities, with US specialist teams and drones being involved in the rescue operation, the White House said.

     

     

  • Paris summit to rally region against Boko Haram

    Paris summit to rally region against Boko Haram

    West African leaders meet in Paris on Saturday to try to improve cooperation in their fight against the Boko Haram sect, which has kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls and threatens to destabilise the wider region.

    Outrage over the kidnapping has already prompted President Goodluck Jonathan, criticised at home for his government’s slow response, to accept the United States, British and French intelligence help in the hunt for the girls, Reuters reports.

    Last week he asked France, itself a target of Islamist militants for its military intervention against Islamist rebels in Mali, to arrange a summit in Paris with Nigeria’s neighbours – Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin, and Western officials.

    French diplomats ruled out any Western military operation but said they expected a regional plan to take shape for countering Boko Haram, which has killed more than 3,000 people in a five-year campaign to establish an Islamic state in mostly Muslim northeast Nigeria.

    “The aim is to come up with an action plan this weekend so that these countries, with the support of the West, cooperate in terms of intelligence gathering, information exchange and border control to stop Boko Haram smuggling weapons and moving freely in this zone,” said a French diplomatic source.

    “There is absolutely no dialogue between Cameroon and Nigeria,” said the source. “Until now, Cameroon has not accepted it has a problem – but it has been destabilised in the north by Boko Haram and in the east by the influx of refugees from Central African Republic. It must talk with Nigeria.”

    With about 6,000 troops operating in either Mali to the northwest or the Central African Republic to the east, Paris has a major interest in preventing Nigeria’s security deteriorating, fearing that Boko Haram could spread north into the Sahel, and beyond Cameroon into the Central African Republic.

  • Jonathan heads to Paris for security summit

    Jonathan heads to Paris for security summit

    President Goodluck Jonathan will travel to Paris, France, Friday to participate in a summit convened by President Francois Hollande to discuss fresh strategies for dealing with the security threat posed by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in West and Central Africa.

    A statement issued on Thursday by the President’s media aide, Dr. Reuben Abati, said President Jonathan will be joined at the summit by Heads of State and Government of Benin Republic, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

    Officials from Britain, United States and the European Union are also expected to attend the summit, put together to discuss a coordinated response to Boko Haram and other terror agents.

    The statement said, “It is also expected that Britain, the United States of America and the European Union will be represented at the talks which will give special attention to the coordination and intensification of efforts to curtail the destabilizing activities of Boko Haram in Nigeria and neighbouring countries in the wake of the recent abduction of college girls from Chibok, Borno State.”

    The President will be accompanied on the trip by the Minister of Defence, Lt-Gen. Aliyu Gusau (rtd), the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) as well as other principal aides and advisers.

    President Hollande had on Sunday offered to host the summit following the global outrage that trailed last month’s abduction of the schoolgirls from their hostels at the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.

    “With Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, I have proposed to hold a meeting with the countries bordering Nigeria. If the countries agree, it should take place next Saturday, “the French leader said during a visit to Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on Monday.

    President Jonathan returns to the country at the end of the meeting on Saturday.

  • Jonathan arrives Paris for peace summit

    Jonathan arrives Paris for peace summit

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday arrived in Paris, France, to join other world leaders participating in a summit on peace and security in Africa.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the president and his entourage arrived at a Military Airforce Base in Paris at about 10.30am.

    Jonathan was accompanied by the First Lady, Dame Patience and some Presidential Aides.

     

    He was received at the airport by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Nurudeen Mohammed, and the Nigerian Ambassador to France, Mr. Hakeem Suleiman.

    NAN reports that no fewer than 50 Heads of State and Government are participating in the Elysee Palace Summit being hosted by President Francois Hollande of France.

    The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, heads of European institutions and leaders of Africa’s sub-regional and continental organisations such as the African Union and ECOWAS are also participating in the summit.

    The summit is scheduled to discuss peace and security in Africa, economic partnership, sustainable development and climate change.

    Hollande and Mrs. Valerie Trierweiler are billed to host all heads of delegation to the summit and their spouses to a state dinner.

     

     

  • Jonathan, others invited to Paris summit

    Jonathan, others invited to Paris summit

    The French President, François Hollande, has invited many African presidents for the December 6 to 7 summit on peace and security in Africa, holding in Paris.

    PANA reported the summit on peace and security in Africa on Wednesday.

    The invited Presidents are – Goodluck Jonathan (Nigeria), Boni Yayi (Benin), Blaise Compaoré (Burkina Faso), Pierre Nkurunziza (Burundi), Paul Biya (Cameroon), José Pereira Neves (Cape-Verde) and Dr Ikililou Dhoinine (Prime Minister of the Comoros).

    Others are – Denis Sassou-Nguesso (Congo Republic), Joseph Kabila (Democratic Republic of Congo), Alassane Ouattara (Côte d’Ivoire), Ismail Guelleh (Djibouti), Hailemariam Desalegn (Ethiopian Prime Minister) and Ali Ondimba (Gabon).

    Also expected to attend are – John Mahama (Ghana), Alpha Condé (Guinea), Teodoro Mbasogo (Equatorial Guinea), Dr. Motsoahae Thabane (Prime Minister of Lesotho), Helen Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia), Ali Zeidan (Libyan Prime Minister).

    Others are Ibrahim Keita (Mali), Mohammed VI (King of Marocco), Navinchandra Ramgoolam (Mauritius Prime Minister), Mohamed Abdel-Aziz (Mauritania) and Armando Guebuza (Mozambique).

    Presidents Hifikepunye Pohamba (Namibia), Mahamadou Issoufou (Niger), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Macky Sall (Senegal), James Michel (Seychelles), Dr Ernest Bai Koroma (Sierra Leone), Hassan Mohamoud (Somalia), Salva Mayardit ( South Sudan), Barnabas Sibisiso (Swaziland), Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzanian Prime Minister), Idriss Itno (Tchad), Faure Gnassingbe (Togo) and Moncef Marzouki (Tunisia) would also attend the summit.

    The Presidents of South Africa, Algeria and Angola will be represented by their senior government officials while Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Yahya Jammeh (Gambia) and Issayas Afewerki (Eritrea) would not attend, even though they were invited.