Liberia Peace Talks likely to end by next week

Accra, June 8 GNA - ECOWAS mediators at the Liberian Peace Talks in Ghana on Tuesday expressed the hope that the one-month old dialogue was likely to end next week with a major political breakthrough to end over 12 years of bloody conflict in the West African country. "We are on course", Mr Sonny Ugoh, Spokesperson at the ECOWAS Secretariat at the M-Plaza Hotel in Accra, where the Talks is going on behind closed-doors, made this known to the Ghana News Agency in an interview.

He said the ceasefire agreement signed by the three warring factions - The Liberian Government; Liberians United For Reconciliation and Development (LURD) and Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) rebel groups prescribed a 30-day period for all the stakeholders at the Talks to fashion out a transitional process for Liberia.

Mr Ugoh said last week's break in the Peace Talks would not affect the progress of the negotiations despite the varied positions of the papers presented by the stakeholders for a comprehensive peace process. "We are harmonizing the various positions papers and hope to come out with something," he said.

Mr Ugoh said back-door negotiations were continuing without major setbacks.

He said expectations for a peace plan for Liberia had been given a boost by the Second Ordinary Session of Heads of the African Union that comes off next Thursday at Mozambique to discuss among other things the way forward to end the Liberian crisis.

Mr Ugoh said ECOWAS Chief Mediator General Abdulsalami Abubakar was attending the two-day meeting.

Meanwhile, Mr Louis Brown, Leader of the Liberia Government Representatives at the Talks, had given a legal twist to the announcement by President Charles Taylor to step down.

In reference to the paragraph eight of the ceasefire agreement that made provisions for an interim administration in Liberia he said: "The Peace Talks have no authority to abrogate, nullify, negate or amend the Liberian Constitution."

He told Journalists in an interview that if President Taylor steps down the likely successor should be the Vice-President, Mr Moses Blah, who should complete the full term of the President and hand over to an elected government.

General Joe Wylie, Military Spokesman of LURD, who expressed a contrary view, said the resignation of Liberian Head of State would end years of bloodshed.

"He has to leave in the interest of peace in Liberia and the Sub-Region."

On Monday MODEL also welcomed the decision of President Taylor to resign and go into exile in Nigeria.

Nearly one-third of Liberia's three million people have been forced from their homes since the rebels took up arms against President Taylor in 1999.

West African states have pledged 3,000 troops to a 5,000 Robust Multi-National Interventionist Force that would be deployed to end the present carnage and grave humanitarian crisis in Liberia.

President Taylor himself was a warlord in 1989 when he waged a bloody war against President Samuel Kanyon Doe's regime.

West African states had to deploy an interventionist force - ECOMOG - to restore order and pave way for the elections that brought President Taylor into office.