SOUTH AFRICA:A peace initiative, part-sponsored by Ireland, is under way in the African mountain kingdom of Lesotho aimed at combating a major outbreak of civil unrest.
Representatives from the Lesotho government and the opposition have been invited to round-table talks following a series of politically motivating shootings and disappearances.
Up to five bodyguards working for opposition leader Tom Thabane are still missing after their weekend abduction by a group of heavily armed men in soldiers' uniforms. The kidnappings follow a spate of gun attacks on the homes of Mr Thabane and at least three government ministers.
The violence comes in the wake of elections earlier this year which saw the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) retain its grip on power.
While Mr Thabane's All Basotho Convention (ABC), and other opposition groups, conceded defeat following the February ballot they have since become embroiled in a bitter dispute over the allocation of seats in parliament.
Former Botswana president Ketumile Masire, acting on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), arrived in the country this week to try to broker a peace deal.
The SADC mission is being funded under UN auspices by the overseas development arms of the British and Irish governments, and the UN Development Programme.
Ireland is also playing a role in facilitating political dialogue, being just one of five countries with an embassy in Lesotho. The others are China, Libya, South Africa and the United States. With exploratory talks entering their fourth day yesterday, the Lesotho Council of Non-Governmental Organisations expressed concern at what it described as the "deteriorating human rights situation". The group's director, Ntate Motsamai, who has also been attending the talks, said there were "worrying" allegations of military personnel harassing civilians.
Furthermore, some soldiers were reportedly wearing masks during operations so they could not be identified.
Mr Motsamai urged Ireland, and other donors with a stake in Lesotho, to "encourage the government to be positive on the dialogue". If human rights abuses did not cease "the Irish taxpayers will want to know why are they in Lesotho", he added.
Despite performing strongly, particularly in urban and lowland areas, the ABC was allocated just 17 seats out of 80 under Lesotho's complex dual-ballot, proportional representation system.
In contrast, the LCD was awarded 61 seats - a total which the opposition believes was unfairly inflated due to a voting alliance between the ruling party and a smaller, like-minded political faction.
The government's decision to open parliament without informing the ABC heightened tensions, as did Mr Thabane's successful stay-away protest.
A week-long curfew, banning movement during hours of darkness in the capital Maseru, was lifted by the government last Friday. But tensions remain high in a country that in 1998 dragged the South African armed forces into a conflict that left scores dead and Maseru in ruins.
Landlocked by South Africa, Lesotho has a constitutional monarch but executive powers rest with the elected government. Its population of 1.8 million is one of the poorest in the world, and their situation has not been helped by a recent drought.
Irish Aid has been engaged in Lesotho for 30 years, and the Government is spending €13 million there in 2007.