ADDIS ABABA — Senior African Union officials met Saturday with UN chief Ban Ki-moon and representatives of a west African bloc that has threatened to use force to resolve the Ivory Coast crisis.
The closed-door tripartite meeting came on the eve of a two-day summit of African heads of state here where Ivory Coast and other upheavals on the continent were to top the agenda.
AU officials briefed the representatives of the UN and the Economic Community of West African States on their latest decisions on Ivory Coast, officials said.
"Those who weren't at Friday's (AU) meeting were given a briefing," Noureddine Mezni, spokesman for AU Commission head Jean Ping told journalists.
"We are all on the same wavelength," he said.
The AU on Friday announced the setting up of a five-member heads-of-state panel to resolve the two-month-old power struggle in Ivory Coast between incumbent strongman Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognised winner of disputed November elections.
Among the African leaders who attended Saturday's mini-summit were ECOWAS chairman and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, President Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali, President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Ban was joined by his special representative for Ivory Coast, Choi Young-Jin, and AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping was also present.
Regional heavyweight South African President Jacob Zuma, who took part in Friday's meeting, was not in attendance Saturday, although his delegation was present.
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