Madagascar's presidents, past and present, to meet in Maputo

Aug 4, 2009, 9:01 GMT

Johannesburg - Madagascar's interim president Andry Rajoelina and three former presidents have agreed to hold face-to-face talks on Wednesday in a bid to end the country's months-long political crisis.

Rajoelina, his arch-rival Marc Ravalomanana, whom he ousted from power in March, ex-dictator Didier Ratsiraka and ex-president Albert Zafy have agreed to meet on Wednesday in Mozambique's capital Maputo for talks, Mariette Imbinina, charge d'affaires at Madagascar's embassy in South Africa confirmed Tuesday.

The four men represent the Indian Ocean island's main political movements.

The meeting, if it goes ahead, will be a coup for Mozambique's former president Joaquim Chissano, who has been tasked by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) with brokering talks on the restoration of constitutional order in Madagascar.

Both SADC and the African Union suspended Madagascar from their ranks after ex-Antananarivo mayor Rajoelina in March ousted the democratically-elected Ravalomanana through a seven-week campaign of street protests that won support from the military.

Ravalomanana agreed to hand over his powers to a military panel, which promptly passed them to Rajoelina.

The international community has refused to recognize Rajoelina, 35, as president, saying his power grab was akin to a coup.

The United States has cut all but humanitarian aid to the impoverished island, which has been rocked by near-daily protests by Ravalomanana supporters since March.

Ravalomanana is in exile in South Africa and Swaziland, where he has been trying to drum up support for a return to power.

Ratsiraka, who ruled the country for most of the period between 1975 and 2001, is expected to travel to the talks from France, where he is in exile. Zafy served three years as president from 1993 to 1996 and still lives in Madagascar.

The talks are expected to focus on how to prepare the ground for new, inclusive elections. The issue of amnesty is expected to figure prominently: Rajoelina is refusing to allow Ravalomanana, who was convicted in absentia of abuse of office and sentenced to four years in prison, return to the island.