Ghana confident Liberia talks would bring peace

Accra, July 3, GNA - Foreign Minister Nana Addo dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday gave the assurance that the Liberian Peace Talks re-convening in Accra on Friday would aim at firming the conditions set out in the June 17 Accra Ceasefire Agreement. He expressed confidence in the Talks saying, "at the end of the day, we hope that President Charles Taylor would stick to his offer of stepping down and not be part in Liberia's future political equation." Nana Akufo-Addo was answering questions on the effects of President Taylor's decision not to step down. The Agreement stipulates the demobilization of the three warring factions, disarmament and reintegration of the combatants, reconstruction of the Liberian army and the holding of general election.

Nana Akufo-Addo told the weekly press conferences instituted by the Ministry of Information that he hoped that within 10 days, the talks would reach a consensus and "we can move forward with the programme". The Minister admitted that the comments by President Taylor gave the whole arrangement in Liberia and the Peace Talks a new dimension. "But I can say that all the parties in the conflict are committed to peace and we must not allow comments to deter our drive to bring peace to Liberia."

Nana Akufo Addo noted that the situation in Liberia was precarious and "needed to be brought to an end and quickly too because of the negative spill over effect that it has brought to the Sub-Region where we find Liberian mercenaries and fighters involved in nearly all the conflicts and civil wars." He said it was sad that because of the unstable situation in Liberia, people found it convenient to rather be fighters involved in the destabilization in Sierra Leone, fighting on both sides of the Ivorian conflict and even as far as the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Nana Akufo Addo said the security agencies in the country were alert and vigilant and were monitoring the activities of the over 60,000 refugees. He said that in view of the dangers of the huge number of refugees, it was important to keep the Liberian situation on the international political agenda. He described arguments that government was spending too much on the Liberian situation as misplaced, saying it had the potential of destabilizing Ghana's relative peace.

Nana Akufo-Addo said they were confident that the rebel leaders they were dealing with represented their groups. "We thus take their words and believe that they would be capable at all times of controlling their men on the ground." He said the Defence Chiefs of ECOWAS would in the next two days come out with a defined composition of an International Stabilization Force, which would have troops from ECOWAS forming the heart of it. "When this is done, the Heads of State of ECOWAS would meet to endorse their deployment in Liberia."

Nana Akufo Addo said ECOWAS was trying to persuade South Africa, Morocco and the US to play active roles in the force to be sent to Liberia, adding: "We trust that we would receive favourable response from them. "I believe that if we have the US as part of this exercise, we would be going a long way in our quest to restore peace in Liberia," he said.