Madagascar Rivals End Meeting Without Deal

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, June 10, 2002

Madagascar Rivals End Meeting Without Deal

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Madagascar's two rival leaders failed to reach an agreement in Senegal on Sunday but a team of African presidents produced an election proposal for defusing the crisis on the huge Indian Ocean island.

Marc Ravalomanana and Didier Ratsiraka came face-to-face on Sunday for the first time since April at a meeting organized by African heads of state under pressure to end strife so the continent can push on with an ambitious revival plan.

Madagascar is split between Ravalomanana, a millionaire who was sworn in as president on May 6, and Ratsiraka, the former admiral who ruled the island of 16 million people for more than two decades.

Ravalomanana was declared winner of disputed December elections by a court in April after a recount agreed by the two at previous talks in Senegal, but Ratsiraka called the court biased and refused to quit.

Senegal's Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio announced late on Sunday that the meeting had ended, but officials said neither of the rivals had signed up for a proposal put forward by the team of five presidents.

"They propose to the protagonists of the Madagascan crisis the organization of parliamentary elections before the end of the year," the proposal said, but it was unclear which of the men it recognized as president.

It said Ravalomanana should name a transition prime minister and that key government posts be shared out between the two camps.

That proposal will now go forward for consideration by the Organization of African Unity, officials said.

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