Accra, July 1, GNA - The Deputy Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mrs. Oboshie Sai -Cofie, on Sunday apologised for media glitches that left scores of journalists frustrated and cut out especially during the opening session of the African Union Summit at the Accra International Conference Centre.

"We apologise for not honouring our promise to allow 150 journalists to enter the mail hall," she said at a press briefing shortly after the opening during which frustrated and angry journalists who had been forced to cover the events from GTV decided to send a petition to the AU and the Ghana government.

"Unfortunately, a lot of the heads of state came out with security concerns that allowed more (people) in and the hall was filled. We therefore had to rethink our strategy," she said. Mrs Sai-Cofie said what they did was to do a back-up plan in which journalists were allowed in 10s.

She also noted that GTV went off air and said the state broadcaster explained that it was off air due to power problem. On the confusion after the opening where security men refused to allow journalists to either get close to the Heads of State or even leave the AICC, Mrs Sai Cofie explained that the security chief at the Conference Centre had been told that the journalists were intending to present a petition to the Heads of State and he took the decision to stop them from going close to the leaders.

"Unfortunately, some people only wanted to leave the centre," she said, adding that the government was too media friendly to take an action like that. This was just a result of miscommunication, she said. She announced that Mr Fank Agyekum, Government Spokesman on Governance, Mr Eugene Akrofi, Media Liaison Officer at the Ministry of Information and an AU official would be in charge of the sitation. Discussions are also ongoing to allow journalists into the lobby of the AICC.

The Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr Akwasi Osei-Adjei, also apologized and said they were looking at the programme again. Meanwhile, conspicuously absent from the opening of the Summit was the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

Colonel Gaddafi, a strong advocate of the African Union, arrived in Accra on Saturday by road and called on AU Chairman, President John Agyekum Kufuor, but he was absent from opening session. 01 July 07