Leaders of Guinea, S. Leone, Liberia Urged to End Conflicts

The Third Conference of Speakers of West African Parliaments has called on heads of state of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, which are members of the Mano River Union, to convene a summit to find a solution to the conflicts along their borders.

The speakers made the call in a communique at the end of the three-day conference on Thursday in Nigeria's capital Abuja.

"The conference agreed to send an inter-parliamentary good auspices mission to the three countries to help restore a climate of confidence and trust as well as build a culture of peace, dialogue and consultation among the three heads of state of the Union," the communique said.

Earlier last month, Liberian President Charles Taylor reiterated his call for an urgent meeting of the leaders of the Mano River Union. However, but Guinean President Lansana Conte has so far refused Taylor's call, saying he will not negotiate with Taylor as long as he continues to support Guinea's insurgents to launch a series of cross-border attacks.

Emphasizing the destruction of lives and property caused by armed conflicts within the Mano River Union, the speakers urged the international community to provide assistance to the thousands of displaced persons.

Guinea is home to over 400,000 refugees from neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia, who fled civil wars in their own countries in the 1990s. Since last September, many of them have been trapped in a wave of fighting between Guinean rebels and government troops.

The speakers also called on governments of the member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to remove the obstacles hindering the process of full regional integration and fulfill their financial obligations to the operations of the ECOWAS parliament.

The conference, which was attended by 15 speakers of ECOWAS parliaments, was designed to strengthen the role of the parliaments in political and economic integration and conflict resolution in the sub-region.






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