UN Urges Liberian Govnt, Rebels to Implement Peace Accord

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, August 28, 2003

UN Urges Liberian Govnt, Rebels to Implement Peace Accord

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The United Nations SecurityCouncil on Wednesday called on the Liberian government and rebel groups to fully implement all of their commitments under a comprehensive peace agreement they signed on Aug. 18 in Ghana.

In a statement issued after a council open debate on Liberia, Council President Fayssal Mekdad of Syria urged the Liberian parties to cooperate with the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS), the UN, the African Union and the United States in establishing a joint committee to monitor the implementation of the peace accord.

The establishment of the monitoring body "is a critical aspect of the Liberian peace process," he said.

He also urged the Liberian government and the two rebel groups -- the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) andthe Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) -- to fully respect a truce they inked earlier.

Mekdad, Syria's deputy ambassador to the UN, reaffirmed the council's readiness to establish a UN peacekeeping force by Oct. 1to replace the ECOWAS force, which is currently deployed in Liberia.

Ghanaian Foreign Minister Nana Akufo Addo and his counterparts from Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea and Nigeria attended the council open meeting.

Days after former Liberian President Charles Taylor stepped down and went into exile in Nigeria, the Liberian government, LURDand MODEL struck the comprehensive peace deal with the mediation of ECOWAS.

The accord provides for the establishment of an inclusive transitional government by October and the holding of a general election in January 2006.

Liberia has been mired in a civil war since 1998, which has claimed thousands of lives and left much of the country's 300 million people in a dire humanitarian situation.

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