International News
More Nigerian troops for Liberia
Aug 19, 2003, 20:02
| | Additional 700 Nigerian soldiers were despatched on 17 August for peacekeeping operations in Liberia, as part of the 1,500-troop contingent promised by the Nigerian Government.
The first batch of peacekeepers touched down Monrovia’s Robertfield Airport on 3 August and has since helped to restore significant order to Liberia.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Martin Luther Agwai, said, yesterday 18 August, that the soldiers will be provided with more equipment, including armoured tanks, guns and communication devices.
Agwai, on a familiarisation tour of military formations in Lagos, confirmed that Nigeria was ready to deploy more men to Liberia given the encouraging security report it had received.
The 700 soldiers were picked from military units in Sokoto and will join their counterparts, drawn from United Nations (UN)-decorated battalions in Sierra Leone, who are already on ground in Liberia.
Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, Benin, Senegal and Togo promised 3,200 soldiers as part of a 5,000-strong force under a UN arrangement designed to restore order to Liberia.
The Nigerians soldiers, who were cheerfully welcomed by grateful Liberians to Monrovia, have secured the ports to ease distribution of badly needed humanitarian assistance, kept the warring factions away from each other, eased tension in the city and effected the peaceful exit of former President Charles Taylor.
Meanwhile, the Liberian Government and warring factions signed a historic peace agreement in Ghana on Monday 18 August, which sets the stage for the establishment of an interim government on October 14, and the execution of general elections in 2005.
The peace talks were held under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with former Nigerian Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar (rtd), as Chairman.
Government officials signed the peace agreement along with officials of the two main rebel groups: Liberia United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). Some salient provisions of the peace agreement include:
1. Immediate cessation of hostilities, including the unconditional disarmament and disengagement of combatants
2. Establishment of an Interposition Force by ECOWAS to maintain the ceasefire, but which would metamorphose into an international stabilisation force charged with general disarmament
3. Disbandment of “irregular forces” and the formation of restructured Armed Forces incorporating elements of the rebel fighters
4. Establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission
5. Establishment of a new Supreme Court
6. Immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners
7. Exit of President Moses Blah by 14 October
8. Constitution of an interim government on 14 October
a. The interim government to be headed by a neutral chairman outside the present government and rebel factions with a mandate to oversee elections in 2005 and to hand over power by January 2006
b. Headship and vice headship of the interim government to come from political parties and civil society, but cabinet membership of technocrats to be drawn from government, rebel factions, political parties and other groups
c. Interim government to have 76 members; 12 each from the outgoing government and the LURD and MODEL groups; 18 from political parties; seven from civil society and special interest groups and one each from Liberia’s 15 counties
d. Any decision by the transitional government will require the backing of at least 51 percent of the entire administration
9. Establishment of an Independent National Electoral Commission to supervise elections under international monitoring no later than 2005
10. Formation of political parties by rebel groups if they so wish.
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First batch of Nigerian peacekeepers arrive Liberia
ECOWAS fixes Liberia deployment date
Peacekeeping: Nigeria makes huge sacrifices
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