President and rebel leader arrive for Togo talks

Guinea Bissau President Joao Bernardo Vieira and rebel leader Ansumane Mane were due to begin talks today in Lome, the Togolese capital, aimed at implementing a peace accord signed early November in Nigeria, the Togolese Foreign Ministry told IRIN. Mane and Guinea Bissau Prime Minister Francisco Fadul arrived on Sunday. Nigerian leader General Abdulsalami Abubakar has also arrived for the talks arranged by Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema, who is the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The main issues on the table are the appointment of ministers to the government of national unity and the deployment of ECOMOG troops in Guinea Bissau, as envisaged under the Abuja peace deal signed in the Nigerian capital. Nigeria provides the leadership and the bulk of ECOMOG troops, whose units are currently active in Sierra Leone.