Cameroon govt mute on details of Biya-Guterres meeting

The Cameroonian president Paul Biya on Friday evening met with the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the presidential palace in Yaounde.

“The UN boss was in transit from the Central African Republic, where he showed support for communities affected by escalating violence,” an official government statement said with giving details of the discussions between the leaders.

Local media portals, however, stated that the social and political crisis in the country’s English speaking regions had come up for discussion. The U.N. chief is on record to have tasked the government to roll out dialogue with leaders of the North West and South West Regions.

Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis as it has become known has led to deaths, injuries and mass detentions by the security agencies. The state deployed security forces to quell separatist sentiments in the region where people are pushing to secede from the majority French part of Cameroon.

The government have previously hinted of dialogue when the president condemned October 1 clashes arising from the attempted symbolic declaration of independence by leaders in the region.

Rights groups and international bodies have called for restraint and probe into security clampdown. The government has defended the security forces claiming they applied appropriate force at every point in time.

The war on Boko Haram and its attendant humanitarian impact is believed to have come up as well. The security situation in neighbouring Central Africa Republic was another area of possible talks the media added.

Guterres visited the war-torn Central African country where he met with the president and U.N. workers as well as displaced people. He further stressed the need for all partners to work towards the attainment of a durable peace.

On #UNday, I pay tribute to UN peacekeepers working for peace in the Central African Republic and around the world. UN_CAR pic.twitter.com/XPOOPLmJr3

— António Guterres (antonioguterres) October 24, 2017

Visited martyred Bangassou to show my solidarity. Christians & Muslims have suffered enough. Religious leaders must be apostles for peace. pic.twitter.com/GzscLM4jXV

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 25, 2017