President Rawlings of Ghana has made a rare apology for any suffering caused by him, saying he hoped Ghanaians would realise it was for the greater good of the country.

While opening a new session of parliament, President Rawlings -- who ends his final term in December after nearly twenty-one years in power -- said his revolution had produced a stable political order and democratic constitution.

He said such achievements would not have been possible without, as he put it, stepping on some toes.

President Rawlings, then a junior airforce officer, seized power in a coup in 1979, and went on to execute eight generals including three previous heads of state. His government later seized businesses and properties and drove many of their owners into exile.

President Rawling made his only previous public apology before general elections in 1992.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service