Assembly/AU/Dec.252(XIII) Page 4 12. CONDEMNS in the strongest possible terms the spiral of violence which resulted in the assassination of the President of Guinea Bissau João Bernardo “Nino” Vieira, and his Chief of Army Staff, General Batista Tagme Na Wai, in March 2009, and more recently on 5 June 2009, the assassination of Baciro Dabo, candidate for the presidential election scheduled for 28 June 2009, and of Helder Proença, former Defence Minister. The Assembly URGES the armed and security forces to refrain from all interference in political issues, SUPPORTS the efforts deployed by the Chairperson of the Commission, including through his Special Envoy for Guinea Bissau, Mr. João Bernardo de Miranda, to backstop the process of stabilization in the country, and ENCOURAGES him to pursue these efforts and intensify coordination with ECOWAS and the United Nations so as to achieve a speedy resolution of the crisis in Guinea Bissau; 13. WELCOMES the progress achieved in Côte d’Ivoire in the implementation of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement (APO) and the Agreements Supplementary to APO, including the presidential decree of 14 May 2009 on the convening of the Electoral College and setting the date for the first round of the presidential election on 29 November 2009. The Assembly URGES the Ivorian parties to continue to demonstrate the political will required to create a climate propitious for the presidential elections and to deploy all efforts to honour their commitments. The Assembly ENCOURAGES Member States of the African Union and the international community at large to pursue and intensify their support for Côte d’Ivoire; 14. WELCOMES the significant progress made by President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed in the political process in Somalia, and URGES all Somali stakeholders yet to commit to the dialogue, to do so and join the peace process. The Assembly STRONGLY CONDEMNS the recent spate of attacks on the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) and the civilian population by armed groups and foreign elements bent on undermining the reconciliation process and regional stability, DEMANDS that they put an end to such attacks which are tantamount to attempts at unconstitutional change of Government, EXPRESSES ITS FULL SUPPORT for the TFG as the legitimate authority in Somalia, and URGES the countries of the region, other Member States and the international community as a whole to provide all the necessary support to the TFG to enable it face up to the situation. In particular, the Assembly EXPRESSES SUPPORT to the efforts being deployed by IGAD to ensure the viability of the TFG; Adopted by the Thirteenth Ordinary Session of the Assembly in Sirte, Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya on 3 July 2009