Liberia peace meeting planned for Dakar

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is planning to convene a peace meeting on Liberia that would include President Charles Taylor and the rebels of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), news agencies on Friday reported. Consultations to seek a negotiated settlement for Liberia, PANA reported, have been going on between Senegalese President and current ECOWAS Chairman, Abdoulaye Wade, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the African Union and the United Nations. ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohammed Ibn Chambas was quoted as saying the talks could take place in Dakar, Senegal. "Peace is required to prepare for national elections in Liberia next year. Liberians should have peace and freedom. Peace in Liberia would also enhance stability in neighbouring countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Cote d 'Ivoire which are currently burdened with war refugees," Chambas was quoted as saying during a visit to the PANAPRESS headquarters in Dakar. Meanwhile the LURD rebels who have been fighting to topple Taylor since 1998, on Thursday denied in a statement, reports that government forces had driven them back from their headquarters of Voinjama.