International News
ECOWAS fixes Liberia deployment date
Jul 31, 2003, 20:46
| | West African leaders meeting in Accra, Ghana over the Liberia crisis, agreed on 31 July, to deploy peacekeeping troops on 4 August.
The leaders also indicated that President Charles Taylor would go into exile three days after the vanguard of 1,500 peacekeepers arrives the crisis-torn country.
Mohammed Ibn Chambers, executive secretary of ECOWAS, said the troops would provide the “appropriate conditions for the handover of power, and departure from Liberia, of President Charles Taylor.”
On 30 July, United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, had urged West African leaders to fix a date for the peace force.
On 31 July, a ten-man advance team of West African and United States officials, led by a Nigerian commander, Brigadier-General Festus Okonkwo, arrived in Monrovia to assess the situation.
The team met government ministers and U.S. officials and determined some issues including where the peace force will live and how much fuel would be available for it.
There are indications that initial deployment would be limited to the battered capital.
Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, Benin, Senegal and Togo have promised 3,200 soldiers for an eventual 5,000 strong force.
Meanwhile the United States on 31 July introduced a draft resolution at the UN that would allow the immediate deployment of an international force to Liberia. Aspects of the resolution include:
.The immediate dispatch of peacekeepers from ECOWAS and other states with a mandate to use force if necessary
.Their replacement by a full UN force by 1 October after the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, reports to the Security Council by 15 August
.Approval for the urgent request from Mr Annan for the UN to underwrite some of the costs of the Nigerian troops due to go in first.
The draft made no mention of the US either as leader or participant, in a multinational force.
Related Articles:
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Nigerian troops poised for deployment in Liberia
Nigeria criticises renewed fighting in Liberia
Senate approves military deployment
Troop deployment awaits Senate approval
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