ANTANANARIVO, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Senior officials of the Southern African Development community (SADC) said here on Saturday that the regional community is ready to help the Indian Ocean island country to settle down the political crisis that has been going on for four months.

    At a press conference jointly held with Madagascan Foreign Affairs minister Ny Hasina Andriamanjato under the transitional government, John Kunene, head of a six-man SADC delegation, said that they are here to see how and what SADC could do to help Madagascar resolve the political crisis in the country.

    The SADC delegation, which arrived here on Thursday for a five-day visit, held closed-door consultation with Madagascan Foreign Affairs Minister Ny Hasina Andriamanjato Saturday morning.

    John Kunene, a political analyst with the Defense ministry of Swaziland, told the media shortly after the consultation that the SADC team would focus on evaluating the latest political development and see how and what they could do to assist Madagascar in restoring the political situation in the country.

    This is the second SADC delegation which visited Madagascar just in one week.

    A SADC mediation group visited Antananarivo from last Monday to Tuesday, during which they assured the Madagascan transitional authorities that the SADC has no plan to send troops to the island to restore former president Marc Ravalomanana, who was overthrew last month by the army-backed Antananarivo mayor Andry Rajoelina.

    Madagascan foreign minister Andriamanjato told the press conference on Saturday that the delegation clarified SADC's position on the current situation in the country during their meeting.

    The SADC officials reiterated that the regional organization had no plan to send military force in an effort to restore the situation in Madagascar.