ECOMIL Commander discusses deployment of force in Liberia

Accra, July 28, GNA - Brigadier-General Festus Okonkwo, Commander of the ECOWAS peacekeeping force to war-torn Liberia, on Monday held a preliminary planning meeting in Accra with countries contributing troops and logistics for the deployment of the force.

The Nigerian Commander of the ECOWAS Mission in Liberia (ECOMIL) met officials from the West African Sub-Region, United Nations Department for Peacekeeping Operations and military personnel from the US European Command. The closed-door meeting was held at the Ministry of Defence in Accra, the interim headquarters of ECOMIL.

Others at the meeting included Colonel Theophilus Tawiah, a Ghanaian Military Officer that would be the Chief of Staff of ECOMIL and Colonel Mark Nyoyoko, from Nigeria would be in charge of Operations.

Brigadier-General Okonkwo expressed doubt whether the ECOMIL could be deployed on Friday to meet the deadline set by ECOWAS. "If we are asked to deploy we do not have the logistics. ECOWAS has to provide the logistics while the US will provide support at the (Liberian) port."

Two Nigerian battalions are to be deployed in Liberia, one from Sierra Leone where they are engaged in UN peacekeeping operations and the other from Nigeria. Chiefs of Defence Staff from the Sub-Region had proposed a robust force of 5,000 with a budget of about 104 million dollars for a period of six months.

ECOWAS are contributing 3,250 troops while the US, South Africa and Morocco would make up the rest. Brigadier-General Okonkwo said a military team from ECOWAS would be in Ghana and Nigeria to assess the preparation of personnel for the peacekeeping mission. Meanwhile, Mr Sunny Ugoh, Spokesperson of ECOWAS, told the Ghana News Agency on Monday that the Chief Mediator at the Liberia Peace Talks, former Nigerian Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, was meeting with his team of negotiators to discuss plans to restore the Ceasefire Agreement signed by the three belligerent groups. He said the Peace Talks could not continue while the bloodshed was continuing.

"We have to get the Liberian government and the rebel groups - Liberians United for Reconciliation and Development (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) - to halt their latest hostilities before the talks can continue." Mr Ugoh said the Chief Mediator was harmonizing contributions by the stakeholders at the talks for the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The Agreement that should have been signed on July 17 by the major players comprising the three warring factions; 18 political parties and civil society groups had stalled because of differences in the composition of a proposed interim government for Liberia.