Peace talks open in Abuja without LURD rebels

Representatives of Liberia's government, opposition parties and civil society began talks on Friday in Abuja, Nigeria, aimed at preparing for a national reconciliation conference. However, the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) was not represented. The meeting had been due to open on Thursday, but proceedings were postponed because representatives of President Charles Taylor's government did not turn up on time. A 15-member delegation led by Minister of Agriculture Rowland Massaquoi eventually arrived. Also in attendance at the talks, organised by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), are former presidents Ruth Perry and Amos Sawyer, leading politicians Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Gabriel Bacchus-Mathews, former rebel leader Alhaji Kromah and representatives of civil society. Declaring the proceedings open, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo urged the various groups to work to overcome their differences in the interest of war-torn Liberia. "Your presence here finally confirms that the situation in Liberia can no longer be allowed to continue," Obasanjo said. "The situation calls for all hands to be on deck. No political leader, no matter his vision or ambition can do it alone." ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohammed Ibn Chambas said that apart from deciding modalities for the proposed conference - tentatively set for July - the mandate of the meeting included "the elaboration of the draft agenda which broadly includes security and election issues". Rather than allow their differences to come in the way of progress, Chambas said, they should strive to attain unity in diversity. "The lessons of the past should be used to construct the present and the future but I urge you to reject the tendency of being held to ransom by the past by aiming for common ground," he said. Taylor, in a message read by Massaquoi, said he planned to "seek help to organise similar meetings in other countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast and the United States where many of our citizens reside so that they can have a chance to contribute". But the absence of the LURD rebels, who took up arms against Taylor's government in 2000, makes it virtually impossible to obtain the consensus needed for a comprehensive peace package ahead of the peace conference. ECOWAS officials said the group was invited and was expected to attend. LURD spokesman Charles Bennie told IRIN earlier in the week they had received the invitation late but would try to be in Abuja. "We will try to be at the meeting," he said. "We have constraints because our members are scattered all over the world." However, he added: "There is no way we will go to Monrovia for that (reconciliation) meeting." Regional leaders consider peace in Liberia vital for ending conflicts that have engulfed the Mano River countries (Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone) since 1989, when Taylor mounted an insurgency that paved the way for his election victory in 1997.