The US government is to give more aid to ECOMOG as part of efforts to ensure peace in the West African region, a US embassy official in Lagos told IRIN on Thursday. However, exact figures were not immediately available, according to the diplomat.
US Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering announced the additional aid on Wednesday in Abuja, news reports said. Pickering said the United States appreciated the sacrifices Nigeria had made for peace and stability in the sub-region, but expressed concern about the war in Sierra Leone and Liberia's role in that crisis.
Nigeria contributes the majority of the troops in ECOMOG, set up in 1990 by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to intervene in Liberia's civil war, and whose mandate was later extended to Sierra Leone.
ECOMOG is backing the elected government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah against Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels trying to unseat his government. Liberia, on the other hand, has been accused by members of the international community of supporting the RUF, a charge its government has consistently denied.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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