African summit mooted to revive Liberian talks

West African mediators of the stalled Liberian peace process have suggested a special African summit to help revive talks on Liberia, which has relapsed into full-scale civil war. "West African leaders, who convened the peace talks in the first place will have to decide on that. I am meeting the ECOWAS chairman (Ghanaian President John Kufuor) and hopefully within the next 48 hours, we will decide on it," General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the official facilitator of the talks, said in Accra on Wednesday. The opening of the peace talks in Ghana on June 4 was attended by two of Africa's most influential leaders, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. Abubakar, a former Nigerian head of state, said one of the issues which would be useful for African heads of state to discuss could be the urgent deployment of an international intervention force in Liberia. Jeremy Greenstock, the UK representative on the UN Security Council, who is leading a Security Council mission to West Africa, suggested before its departure on Wednesday that the United States, which has traditionally enjoyed close links with Liberia, should lead such a force. He pointed out that Britain had performed a similar function to help end a 10-year civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone and that France was spearheading a peace-keeping force to try and end a civil war in its former colony Cote d'Ivoire. Abubakar said the latest attempt by the rebel Liberian United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) group, to capture the Liberian capital Monrovia had worsened the humanitarian crisis in the city and sent civilians fleeing to the diplomatic quarter in search of safety and protection. "I am appealing to all the warring factions to stop the fighting and return to the peace-talks," Abubakar told reporters. "Without a break in the fighting, the Joint Verification Team (JVT), whose duty is essential in brokering a comprehensive cease-fire and identifying violators of the cease-fire, cannot be deployed," he added. The JVT was due to have established the positions of all warring parties on the ground following a June 17 ceasefire agreement which has now broken down. It was to consist of military observers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the international community and two representatives each from the Liberian government, LURD and a second rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). However, LURD, which has cooled its enthusiasm for any further discussion with President Charles Taylor, has yet to appoint representatives to the mission, which was due to have started work last weekend. Representatives of the rebel group, which has been fighting Taylor's forces in Northern Liberia since 1999, said privately that they are determined to remove him by force. "We are going all out this time," one LURD official at the peace talks in Accra told IRIN. " We will contain Monrovia because we have to minimize the heavy casualties our forces have suffered as a result of Taylor's forces violating the cease-fire and attacking our positions." MODEL, which has seized much of Southeastern Liberia since it appeared on the scene in March, has also been involved in heavy fighting with government forces since the ceasefire was declared. But publicly it has not taken such a hardline position as LURD. "We have not done anything to violate the cease-fire agreement we signed on June 17," MODEL spokesman Tiah Slanger told IRIN. " I have promised all Liberians that we are here in Accra for peace. We are not on the offensive. But we will stand prepared and hit back at anyone who comes into our territory to attack us," Abubakar reminded all the warring factions of the African Union Declaration on unconstitutional changes of government. The declaration states that: 'every accession to power must be made through free, fair and transparent elections and that there will be zero tolerance for power obtained or maintained by unconstitutional means.' "The International community will not recognize any party that takes power or maintains power over the population by force. People who claim to be fighting for Liberians should be aware of the suffering they are heaping on their own people," the Nigerian mediator said. He reminded the warring factions that there can be no substitute for dialogue and that no matter the outcome of the war, Liberians would still need to engage in political dialogue in the search for a durable peace. General Abubakar indicated that ECOWAS would consider asking the international community to remove of the Special Court Indictment on Charles Taylor for war crimes in Sierra Leone if it will bring peace to Liberia. He however issued a dire warning to the leaders of the two rebel groups, should they persist in fighting despite appeals to them to stop. "If Taylor was indicted for war crimes, then remember that you can also be indicted for showering undue hardship, pain and suffering on your people if you continue with this war," Abubakar said.