ECOWAS, US discuss early warning system

West African representatives and a US military delegation have been holding talks in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on an early warning system that would monitor threats to regional security, officials said. A statement from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), sent to IRIN on Thursday, said ECOWAS officials led by Executive Secretary Lansana Kouyate were meeting a 10-member delegation from the US European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. The discussions, which began on Tuesday, were on the details of a regional communication system to be set up by Washington, it said. "The regional communication system will facilitate peacekeeping operations in West Africa by providing vital communication links for the subregional peace and security observation system," the statement said. Under the observation system, the 15 ECOWAS states are divided into four zones coordinated from Banjul, The Gambia; Cotonou, Benin; Monrovia, Liberia; and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, with an observation and monitoring centre located at the ECOWAS secretariat in Abuja. The observation system began operations in 2001 with funds provided by the European Union. Since then it has been collecting and analysing information and data on security in the region. The current talks aim to improve its logistic capability through a US proposal to set up a military planning secretariat at the ECOWAS secretariat and two logistics bases. "The logistics bases, one in a coastal state and another in a hinterland state, are intended to improve the response time for the deployment of ECOMOG troops in crisis situations," the statement said.