Four Ghanaians missing in NYC

At least four Ghanaians are reported missing in the wake of last Tuesday's terrorist attacks on two major American cities, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, announced on Friday.

Receiving the new American Ambassador, Ms Nancy Jo Powell, who called at the ministry to present her open letters of credence, ahead of a presidential ceremony to be held later in the day, the Minister said the government was reviewing the situation and would take a firm decision later on Friday on whether President John Agyekum Kufuor's visit to the United States would come off as planned or not.

President Kufuor was originally scheduled to leave Accra on Friday to visit Washington and Boston with a stopover in the United Kingdom.

In an apparent comment on speculations that some 500 Ghanaians might have died as a result of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, Mr Owusu-Agyemang said the figure could not be real since the estimated total casualty rate was now about 5,000. Today’s issue of the Despatch said about 500 Ghanaians were feared dead.

The Minister expressed Ghana's solidarity with the American people in their efforts to hunt down the perpetrators of the barbaric act in order to make the world peaceful.

For example, he said, Ghana would readily co-operate with any Interpol arrangement should there be such a request from the Americans. "We consider the attacks as a strike against humanity and civilization all over the world. We should all solidly rally behind you to defeat terrorism," he told the new Envoy.

The government has directed that all flags should fly at half post on Friday to show a mark of deep respect. "Our resolve to fight terrorism will make everybody safe against these cruel acts like those we've already witnessed in Tanzania and Kenya," Mr Owusu-Agyemang said.

He said last Tuesday's tragedy would not only affect America, but also all other countries, citing a scheduled IMF meeting on Ghana's HIPC cut-off point, which had to be deferred.

Owusu-Agyemang said relations between Ghana and the US have been put in a higher pedestal in the last eight months when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) assumed power.

This culminated in high official exchanges between the two countries such as President Kufuor's meeting with President George Bush and Secretary of State, Collin Powell, as well as the visit to Ghana by the Director of Federal Bureau of Investigations to assist unravel serial killings.

Owusu-Agyemang also briefed the new Envoy on President Kufuor's vision of the "Golden age for business" and his resolve for "Zero tolerance for corruption" to ensure effective utilisation of the taxpayer's money.

Ms Powell said the US could not stand alone in this tragedy and called for worldwide support to wipe out terrorism. "We need to let people understand the cost of these heinous crimes and the need to work together to eliminate them from society," she said, and expressed appreciation for the expression of condolences and solidarity from Ghana in the wake of the attacks.

She lauded Ghana's stride towards becoming a beacon in democracy in Africa and pledged her commitment to build on the good relationship nurtured by her predecessors for the development of good governance.

Ms Powell said, already, Ghana stands out tall in the preference of American investors because of her evolving democracy and rule of law.