West African leaders have announced that a first contingent of regional peacekeepers is expected in Liberia by Monday, opening the way for the departure of beleaguered President Charles Taylor who has already agreed to step down.
| Then decided not to, then agreed, then decided not to... |
The decision came at an emergency summit of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) on Thursday in Ghana, whose President John Agyekum Kufuor is the current chairman of the regional organisation. The news was greeted with some relief by civilians in Liberia, and brought a welcome glimmer of hope to people who have been begging for an intervention force to come between the warring factions. After 12 straight days of clashes, the capital Monrovia was reported quieter Thursday with a marked reduction in clashes between loyalist Taylor troops and Lurd rebel forces. Correspondents said the relative lull in the fighting in the city could also be due to the presence of a minimal 10-member advance, fact-finding team dispatched by West African leaders to assess the conditions for the deployment of regional peacekeepers to Liberia.
| My guess would be that it's due to having to bring up more ammunition... |
Leading the reconnaissance mission is Nigerian General Festus Okonkwo, who will head the West African force in Liberia, to be known as Ecomil. Okonkwo told reporters on Thursday "There is going to be peace in Liberia as soon as possible."
| "At present, it's not possible. But when it is, there will be peace..." |
War-weary Monrovia residents lined the streets clapping and cheering as Okonkwo's convoy drove past, chanting "We want peace, no more war, we want peace". West African heads of state approved the deployment "of the vanguard interposition force, calling for an early deployment (at the latest) by Monday, August 4". Two Nigerian battalions, numbering about 1500 troops, have been on stand by for at least two weeks, waiting for orders to go into Liberia. After the regional summit in Ghana, Ecowas leaders issued a statement saying that Taylor, a former rebel leader-turned-president and now indicted war criminal, would be given three days from the arrival of the troops "to hand over power to his successor and depart for Nigeria," which has offered asylum to the Liberian leader.
| No doubt he'll do just that... |
It was not immediately clear whether Taylor had agreed to their timetable. But the message will be delivered to him in person on Friday, when the Ecowas executive secretary, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, and a delegation of three West African foreign ministers from Ghana, Nigeria and Togo are dispatched to Liberia with collective instructions from their respective bosses to brief Taylor about the outcome of the Accra summit. |