International organizations African Union (AU) The AU met in Khartoum on January 23 and January 24, 2006. It decided against the extradition of former Chadian president Hissène Habré to Belgium and announced the formation of a commission to find an African judiciary to try him. Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of the Congo, became the Chairperson of the African Union's Assembly of Heads of State. The chair was originally supposed to return to Sudan, but at the request of several AU members, President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir decided to relinquish his position in view of the AU's participation in the resolution of the Darfur conflict. Members agreed that his chairmanship would affect the credibility of the AU. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) The Ordinary Summit of ECOWAS was held in Niamey on 13 January 2006 with the Heads of State of Niger (Tandja Mamadou), Mali (Amadou Toumani Touré), Togo (Faure Gnassingbé), Guinea-Bissau (Joao Bernardo Vieira) and Nigeria (Olusegun Obasanjo). The 10 other member countries were represented by their Foreign Ministers. The ECOWAS asked the G8 to extend the cancellation of debt to the whole of the Member States of the organization. It re-elected its chair Tandja Mamadou and decided to transform the secretariat into a commission with a President, a Vice-President and 7 Commissioners. ECOWAS is pleased with the nomination by consensus of a Prime Minister and the composition of a government of national unity in Côte d’Ivoire, as well as the presidential elections being held in Liberia and in Guinea-Bissau. On the economic level, the Heads of State expressed their support for a plan to create a regional airline company "to overcome the difficulties in air transport" in the subregion. During the summit in Abuja on 14 June 2006, the Heads of States of ECOWAS approved a modification of the organization's hierarchy. The secretariat is to be replaced by a commission of the nine police chiefs of the member states. The 4-year term of the police chiefs from Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo will begin in January 2007. Ghana will head the commission, while Burkina Faso will take the vice-presidency. ECOWAS also adopted a convention which aims "to prohibit the sale of light weapons within the community and between member states, except for the legitimate defense needs of these states or for their participation in peacekeeping operations".