US says neutral in Southern Cameroon talks ⁰

The United States of America says it has offered to play a role in identifying an eventual solution to the crisis in Anglophone regions of Cameroon that has left more than 3,000 dead since 2017.

The US embassy in Yaounde said in a statement it would need to be asked by President Paul Biya’s government and Anglophone leaders to take on such a responsibility and asked the parties to engage in dialogue without any preconditions.

A major national dialogue that President Biya hopes will resolve the future of the secession-leaning english-speaking Northwest and Southwest Cameroon started on Monday.

Hopes for a breakthrough were however dashed by the absence of hardline separatist leaders and opposition politicians as moderates called for the talks to be given a chance.

“The US urges all those involved in the conflict in the Northwest and Southwest to abjure further violence and enter into an open-ended dialogue without precondition,” the statement said.

The advisory itself was an attempt at damage control after separatist leaders in the diaspora announced on Monday that US diplomat Herman Jay Cohen had agreed to represent them in the talks.

Source:The East African