Thomas Sotinel in Monrovia
FOR the first time since the beginning of the civil war in 1989, the news from Liberia is good rather than bad. At the close of a summit meeting in Abuja, the Nigerian capital — which last week brought together the heads of state of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) and the leaders of the various armed factions in Liberia — Ruth Sando Perry was appointed president of the Liberian Council of State. Perry, who is in her fifties, is the first woman to head an African country.
Two months after the end of the terrible fighting that devastated the Liberian capital, Monrovia, Perry will not find it easy to implement the timetable for a return to peace and democracy hammered out in Abuja. It is due to culminate with the election of a new president on May 31, 1997, once the tens of thousands of fighters who have been ravaging the country for more than five years have been disarmed and demobilised.
The composition of the rest of the Council of State remains unchanged. It includes three faction leaders: Charles Taylor of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, Alhaji Kromah of the Mandingo wing of the United Liberation Movement and George Boley of the Liberian Peace Council, as well as a representative of the civilian population and a customary chief.
The new president, who is a former senator, promised in an interview on BBC radio that she would not be bribed or intimidated by threats of military action, and that she was expecting her colleagues to show her ”the respect due to a mother”.
The heads of state in Abuja threatened — – for the first time — to impose sanctions on any faction leaders who failed to respect the summit’s decisions. Taylor, Boley, Kromah, Johnson and their families, who until recently used to go to Conakry or Abidjan on shopping expeditions or to get medical treatment, may find they are no longer authorised to travel in the region unless they toe the line.
It would appear the United States has promised to come up with the necessary finance to strengthen Ecomog — the West African security force — which is due to grow from 8 500 to 18 000 men in the next two months.
The mediating force will continue to consist almost entirely of Nigerian nationals and to be headed by a Nigerian- appointed general.