ECOWAS says 1,450 peacekeepers enough

An offer by four West African states to jointly field 1,450 troops for a subregional interposition force in Guinea Bissau should be adequate to ensure peace in the recently troubled nation, ECOWAS Executive Secretary Lansana Kouyate told AFP yesterday. Speaking from ECOWAS headquarters in the Nigerian capital, Kouyate said 112 soldiers would be in place before the end of January to be joined soon after by another 600, AFP reported. The force is to be deployed under the Abuja accord and will replace Senegalese and Guinean troops who came to support Vieira’s government. Meanwhile, a Military Junta official in the Guinea Bissau capital, Bissau, told Lusa, the Portuguese news agency, that ECOWAS wanted a government of national unity to be installed before the end of the week. However, on Monday, Lusa quoted the Guinea Bissau prime minister-designate, Francisco Fadul, as saying neither he nor the transitional government would take office before all Guinean and Senegalese troops had left the country.