Presidents of Liberia, S. Leone, Guinea Hold Peace Talks in Morocco

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, February 28, 2002

Presidents of Liberia, S. Leone, Guinea Hold Peace Talks in Morocco

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The presidents of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea held talks in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, on Wednesday aimed at checking trans-border insurgencies among the three countries and restoring peace in the West African sub-region.

President Charles Taylor of Liberia, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone and Lansana Conte of Guinea attended the meeting opened by King Mohammed VI of Morocco, according to reports reaching here from Rabat.

The leaders of the three member-states of the Mano River Union have agreed to end hostilities each other, Sierra Leonean Foreign Minister Ramadan Dumbuya was quoted as saying when the summit entered the closed-door session.

They also agreed upon the wording of a draft communique by calling for the three nations to stop all interference in the internal affairs of their neighbors.

A senior government official of Morocco said foreign ministers of Guinea, Liberia and Morocco also attended the first session of talks along with security and army senior officials.

"The king has invited the three leaders to reach a strong peace accord, and things are moving in the right direction," he said.

The summit, which Kabbah had drummed up support for, became imperative as a result of the upsurge in fighting in Liberia threatening stability in the sub-region.

Rebels of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) moved toward Kley junction, just 35 kilometers north of the capital Monrovia, on February 7, making Taylor declare a state of emergency in the following day.

It was reported that the government troops have rolled back the LURD forces and retaken control of Bopolu and Haindi, some 75 kilometers northeast of Monrovia.

Conte had paved the way for the summit, saying that he is willing to meet his Liberian and Sierra Leonean counterparts.

Until their closed meeting in Rabat, Conte had refused to sit at the same table as his Liberian counterpart.

In the past, Conte refused to meet Taylor to discuss the crisis in the sub-region, accusing him of fomenting war in the sub-region. In turn, Liberia accused neighbor Guinea of sheltering and supporting LURD dissidents, saying that the rebels are well equipped with the help of Guinea.

The United Nations has punished Liberia for fomenting regional instability, but Liberia argues that the sanctions should be lifted because the war in Sierra Leone has officially been declared over.

Civil war and cross-border conflicts over the past decade have made Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea among the most miserable places in the world.

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