Liberia's Blah meets rebel leaders in Ghana

ACCRA, Aug. 14 — Liberia's new president, Moses Blah, met the leaders of rebel factions in Ghana on Thursday for talks aimed at ending civil war, Ghana's foreign minister said.

Nana Akufo-Addo told Reuters that Blah met in private with Sekou Conneh of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) group and Thomas Nimley of a smaller faction known as Model.

Between them, the factions control more than three-quarters of the West African country.

''They are meeting as we speak,'' Akufo-Addo said, adding that he hoped a peace accord would be signed on Saturday.

Blah, who took office on Monday from now-exiled pariah leader Charles Taylor, is due to hand over in October to an interim president chosen by warring factions and political parties meeting in Ghana.

But the rebels are wary of Blah as an old Taylor ally.

Nearly 14 years of strife in Liberia and closely entwined conflicts in the region have cost an estimated quarter of a million lives.

LURD rebels began pulling out of the capital Monrovia on Thursday to hand over to West African peacekeepers following recent fighting that left at least 2,000 dead.

Liberians to endorse a Comprehensive Peace Agreement on Saturday

Accra, Aug. 15, GNA - Stakeholders at the Liberian Peace Talks in Accra are expected to endorse a Comprehensive Peace Agreement on Saturday to wrap-up two months of intense closed-door negotiations to end the carnage in the West African State.

Mr Sunny Ugoh, Spokesperson at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Secretariat in Accra, told the Ghana News Agency on Friday that the draft document has been submitted to all the major players to study

" Other negotiations are going on with them and I hope they will sign the Agreement on Saturday," he said.

The document provides for a general framework for the peace process including the composition of the legislature and the judiciary. An extract of the document provides seven representatives each from the Government of Liberia (GOL); Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD); Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL); and Civil Society and special interest groups.

Each of the 15 counties and the eighteen political parties in Liberia would also have a representation at the legislature.

ECOWAS sources told the GNA on Friday that the visiting Liberian President, Mr Moses Blah is expected to witness the signing ceremony.

The parties to the agreement include the three belligerent groups to the civil conflict- Liberian government; LURD; MODEL; the 18 political parties and a number of civil society groups. Mr Sekou Conneh, Chairman of LURD; Mr Thomas Yaya Nimely of MODEL; Liberian Defence Minister Daniel Chea and Chief Cyril Allan, Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party are also in the country to witness the signing ceremony.

Mr Blah would confer with President John Agyekum Kufuor, Chairman of ECOWAS to facilitate the peace process.

The Liberian Leader; who succeeded Former President Charles Taylor as Head of State on Monday, would hold other consultations on the inauguration of an interim administration for Liberia.

The interim administration would take over from Mr Blah next October to manage a transitional process that would span two years. The interim government would organise general election and ensure the demobilisation, disarmament and re-integration of former combatants. The Endorsement of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement would climax the marathon Peace Talks being facilitated by former Nigerian Leader, General Abdulsalami Abubakar.

Mr Jacques Paul Klein, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Liberia, is expected in Ghana on Sunday to hold extensive interaction with the Media over efforts at brokering peace in war-torn Liberia.

Fourteen (14) years of conflict have killed about of 250,000 people and driven some 500,000 others into exile. 15 Aug. 03