A west African military reconnaissance team prepared on Thursday, amid fierce battles in the besieged Liberian capital Monrovia, to assess the situation ahead of the promised deployment of peacekeepers.
The evaluation team from the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), led by Nigerian General Festus Okonkwo, is due to stay in Monrovia until Saturday, by when a date will likely be set for the long-delayed deployment.
Okonkwo, who arrived here late Wednesday, said the Ecowas force could be in the Liberian capital ”within days” to end a two-month rebel siege that has claimed hundreds of civilian lives and displaced some 200 000 people.
Fierce fighting was raging early Thursday between rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and forces loyal to President Charles Taylor in battles for three strategic bridges.
General Benjamin Yeaten, deputy chief of staff of the Liberian army, said that the rebel offensive had not abated with the arrival of the Ecowas military assessment team.
”We are still in the same position in the three bridges,” he said. ”The rebels used shells and mortars throughout the night and I would say the fighting was heavy. The battles still continue and the intensity remains the same.”
However, optimism has taken root for an end to the civil war that broke out nearly five years ago and has seen the rebels gain control of around four-fifths of the country.
West African heads of state were to hold an emergency summit in the Ghanaian capital Accra on Thursday on the plan to send in 3 000 peacekeepers, pledged on July 4.
In the face of the fierce warfare and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Monrovia, Ecowas last week proposed the urgent deployment of an advance contingent of 1 500 troops from Nigeria, west Africa’s military powerhouse.
The United States, after resisting international pressure to intervene, on Wednesday introduced a resolution in the UN Security Council that would authorise the deployment of a multinational peacekeeping force to halt the fighting in Liberia, founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century.
In addition to providing a United Nations (UN) mandate for the Ecowas force, the resolution calls for a follow-up stabilisation force to take over when the multinational force’s mandate runs out.
The council also would, according to the draft resolution, ask UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to prepare, within two weeks, a proposal for the mandate, size and structure of such a force, and to set a date for its deployment ”no later than October 1”.
The draft made no mention of the United States, either as leader or participant, in a multinational force.
US President George Bush has repeatedly called on Taylor to quit the country, and the Pentagon has so far ordered three warships to west African waters. – Sapa-AFP