Liberia’s former interim President Amos Sawyer has died at the age of 76.
He was one of the country’s most acclaimed politicians who became interim president in the 1990s as part of efforts to stop the bloody war launched by now-jailed former President Charles Taylor.
Taylor and his NPFL rebels did not recognise the Sawyer leadership and prevented him from venturing outside the capital Monrovia throughout the four-year interim period.
In post-war Liberia, Sawyer, a university professor and lecturer of political science, served as chairman of the Governance Commission.
France announces troop withdrawal from Mali
BBC World Service
France has just announced it is withdrawing its troops from Mali, where they have been fighting jihadists.
A joint statement issued ahead of an EU-Africa summit in Brussels says this would be a coordinated withdrawal together with European allies and Canada.
The statement also speaks of the desire to continue to engage in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel.
The allies say they want to extend the geographical scope of their support, including to the countries of the Gulf of Guinea.
France expected to announce Mali exit
President Emmanuel Macron is due to hold a news conference shortly where he is expected to announce the withdrawal of French troops from Mali ahead of an EU-Africa summit in Brussels.
Mr Macron held a working dinner last night in Paris with the leaders of Niger, Chad, Mauritania and several European states.
Mali’s junta leader was not invited to Paris.
Elysee officials say it’s become impossible for France to continue its anti-insurgency deployment in Mali, because of growing hostility from the military authorities in Bamako.
Relations deteriorated after Mali’s military rulers reneged on a deal to organise elections this month and also accepted the deployment of Russian private military contractors.
Source: BBC
