Aliu discusses Ivorian crisis with Western diplomats

Vice President Aliu Mahama on Monday held closed-door discussions on Ghana's contribution to the resolution of the Ivorian crisis with Ambassadors of six Western European countries and the United States in Ghana.

Before the start of the meeting, attended by Defence Minister Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor and Deputy Foreign Minister Mustapha Ali Idriss, the Vice President Mahama told journalists that Ghana was concerned about events in Cote d'Ivoire and wanted her friends to know about that.

The Ambassadors of France, United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United States were at the meeting. It is believed that the countries would pledge some assistance to aid Ghana's intervention in the crisis, which started on 19 September when mutineers attempted to overthrow the government of President Laurent Gbagbo.

Dr Addo-Kufuor told journalists in Abidjan on Wednesday that Ghana would contribute 260 soldiers to Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) peacekeepers to be deployed in Cote d'Ivoire within the next two weeks.

President John Kufuor is a member of a six-nation Contact Group appointed to facilitate negotiations between the Ivorian government and the rebels. They were appointed at the Extra Ordinary ECOWAS Heads of State Summit, held in Accra on 29 September.

The Defence and Foreign Ministers are also members of the peace and security mediation teams. Ghana has also assisted some foreign nationals in Cote d'Ivoire to evacuate their citizens through her borders.

In a related development, Vice President Aliu Mahama on Monday urged Sierra Leone to use her experiences from the civil war to advise the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on the best way to resolve the political crisis confronting La Cote d'Ivoire.

Vice President Mahama said this when he received Mr Desmond Luke, a Special Envoy of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone, at the Castle, Osu.

Mr Luke is in the country to express the gratitude of his country for the assistance she received from Ghana during their 10-year civil war, which ended this year with multi-party elections.

Vice President Mahama said Ghana would fully support ECOWAS and other countries that would work to restore peace and stability to Cote d'Ivoire.

He expressed contentment about the restoration of democratic governance in Sierra Leone, saying, "Our worry now is Cote d'Ivoire and we believe that with what you have gone through on the battlefield, you have a wealth of experience to guide ECOWAS."

Mr Luke said Sierra Leone appreciated Ghana's contribution to the resolution of the civil war in that country and expressed the hope that relations between the two countries would grow stronger.

He said the recent Ghana-Sierra Leone Trade week in his country was laudable and called for more of such exchanges. Meanwhile, ECOWAS has agreed to deploy more than 2,000 peacekeeping troops in Cote d'Ivoire within two weeks, to replace French troops who have been keeping government soldiers and rebels apart since a ceasefire was brokered on 18 October.

Direct talks between the government and rebels, who attempted to overthrow it on 19 September, would be held outside the troubled country early next week in order to resolve their differences and end the rebellion

The five-week-long uprising, which plunged Cote d'Ivoire into its worst crisis since its independence from France in 1960, has claimed hundreds of lives and left tens of thousands of people homeless.

Meanwhile, direct talks between the government and rebels, would be held outside the troubled country early next week in order to resolve their differences and end the rebellion

The five-week-long uprising, which plunged Cote d'Ivoire into its worst crisis since independence from France in 1960, has claimed hundreds of lives and left tens of thousands of people homeless.