Peace caravan planned

Security ministers from the Mano River Union countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone on Wednesday renewed efforts to build peace in the sub-region by making operational, decisions taken at a sub-regional meeting in Morocco in April, officials said. They agreed, among other things, that a peace caravan comprising about 20 high-level officials from each of the three countries should tour their common borders - "from Guinea to Sierra Leone to Liberia, and from Liberia- to Sierra Leone to Guinea" - in December. The ministers held a two-day meeting together with other top-level government officials in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown. The meeting, which ended on Wednesday, was a follow-up of the Morocco initiative that was convened by King Mohammed VI in Rabat to help mend relations between their countries. President Lansana Conteh of Guinea, Charles Taylor of Liberia and Ahmad Kabbah of Sierra Leone agreed in Morocco to enhance border security, repatriate refugees, aid displaced persons and reactivate the Mano River Union for economic development. In April the countries' foreign ministers held another meeting, shortly after the UN Inter-Agency Working Group called on them to "translate the spirit" of the Rabat summit into "positive momentum for peace in the sub-region". "Wednesday's meeting was attended by ministers and officials of the Mano River Union. It was called by Sierra Leone, which was mandated in Morocco to organise it," Christina Wright, director of political affairs in Sierra Leone's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told IRIN. Officials who attended the meeting said the caravan iss intended to be a confidence-building measure, and to symbolise "the formal re-opening of borders that had remained closed due to wars and impeded free movement of people and trade". The caravan is expected to involve the ministers responsible for foreign affairs, security, defence and justice from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - each of whom nominally belongs to the moribund Mano River Joint Security Committee. Planning for the caravan is to commence immediately. The Freetown meeting also addressed the deployment of cross-border security guards, the matter of dissidents from each country living in other Mano River countries, and the plight of refugees in the sub-region, according to Sierra Leonean government officials. It was agreed at the meeting that refugees, especially Liberians living in Guinea and Sierra Leone, should be "given better treatment", they added. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that at least 228,000 Liberian refugees live in neighbouring countries, mainly in Guinea and Sierra Leone. There are also about 30,000 Sierra Leoneans in Liberia. Officials who attended the Freetown meeting said the issue of dissidents "remained a grey area." A legal committee had been mandated to examine various aspects of the issue and advise on ways "to minimise dissident activity - like Liberian rebels in Guinea and Sierra Leone rebels in Liberia," the officials added. The Guinean delegation included four ministers, led by Minister of Justice Abou Camara. The Liberian delegation included Minister of Justice Laveli Korboi Johnson and Minister of Defence Daniel Chea, as well as several other senior officials. Sierra Leone was represented by several ministers, led by Minister of Internal Affairs Sam Hinga Norman. UN agencies working in the Mano River countries have all along urged the MRU members to demonstrate their commitment to peace in the sub-region through practical measures, such as re-opening their borders to allow free movement of people.