Conakry Agreement remains key to stability in Guinea Bissau - Kuwait envoy

NEW YORK, Feb 15 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mansour Al-Otaibi expressed regret over the failure of Guinea-Bissau's national leaders to establish an inclusive government as per the provisions of Conakry Agreement.
The agreement, reached on October 14, 2016, provides for, inter alia, the appointment of a consensual prime minister, conducting timely elections, and implementing the priority reforms.
In his address to a UN Security Council session on peace and security in the country on Thursday, Ambassador Al-Otaibi said the situation in the West African country is different from other cases being examined by the UNSC in the sense that it is purely political remotely from any security dimensions.
Guinea-Bissau has been plagued by chronic political instability since gaining independence in 1974, he noted, adding that more than one year has passed since the signing of Conakry Agreement without making a breakthrough in the political crisis.
Ambassador Al-Otaibi stressed the need of continued UN presence in order to help the political leaders of the country set the stage for parliamentary and presidential elections in 2018 and 2019 as planned.
He appreciated the mediation efforts being made by Modibo Ibrahim Toure - the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union and the European Union.
Meanwhile, Toure told the UNSC that President Jose Mario Vaz dismissed former Prime Minister Umaro Sissoco Embalo and replaced him with Artur Silva.
"The absence of a functioning and stable Government for more than three years has limited the ability of UNIOGBIS to effectively and sustainably implement some of its mandated tasks," said Toure.
Until the completion of the electoral cycle in 2019, Guinea-Bissau remains a country that requires a dedicated UN presence to prevent a further deterioration in the political and security situation at the national level and to avoid any negative spillover to its neighbors and creating a fertile environment for trafficking to thrive, he cautioned.
UNIOGBIS was established as a special political mission in 1999 following a two-year civil war in the country. Since mid-2016, the Mission has been headed by Toure. (end) asf.gb