West African nations have agreed to form a peacekeeping force for war-torn Liberia and will send a first contingent in the next two weeks, Ghana’s foreign minister said on Wednesday by telephone from Maputo.
”We are looking at a timeframe of 10 to 14 days and a total force of 1 000 to 1 500,” Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo said from the Mozambique capital which will host a summit of the African Union (AU) this week.
”As we speak the modalities are being worked out,” he said. ”We are hammering out the details of how large the initial force will be and which countries will contribute to it.”
United Nation’s Secretary General Kofi Annan said in Maputo on Wednesday that west African nations would play an ”immediate role” in conflict-ridden Liberia while other countries will eventually follow suit and deploy troops,
”The immediate leading role in Liberia will be taken up by Ecowas (Economic Community of West African States)), and they enjoy the full support of the African Union,” Annan told reporters on the sidelines of an AU meeting in Mozambique.
”Eventually we expect troops from other parts of Africa to contribute,” he added.
Annan was speaking before meeting the incoming president of the AU, Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, to discuss wars on the continent, a key issue at the three-day summit starting on Thursday.
In Pretoria, US President George Bush said earlier in the day that he would not overstretch US forces already on manpower-intensive missions with a major deployment in Liberia, but that Washington would work with west African states and the United Nations to bolster a ceasefire.
Annan said: ”The US haven’t indicated fully what role they will play but I expect them to take the right decision and grant support.”
Liberia has been embroiled in warfare since a conflict erupted in 1990 that lasted until 1997 when former warlord Charles Taylor was elected president.
Two years later the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy plunged the country into its latest war in a bid to topple Taylor.
Annan suggested last month that the United States lead a peacekeeping force to the country founded in the 19th century by freed American slaves. – Sapa-AFP