ECOWAS ministerial talks begin ahead of mini-summit

Foreign ministers representing the 10-member ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council have begun meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, ahead of a mini-summit of Council members scheduled for Wednesday.

Officials of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said all member countries of Council were being represented at Tuesday’s ministerial meeting, called to prepare a report on the security situation in the region for consideration by the heads of state.

The Council’s members are Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo. Officials of the United Nations, which has a peace mission in war-torn Sierra Leone, are also attending this week’s meetings.

One of the main issues for discussion is the delayed deployment of about 1,700 ECOWAS troops to Guinea’s borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone, where fighting since September 2000 between Guinean government forces and insurgents has killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands.

“This and wider issues of security in the region will form the key issues to be discussed by the leaders of the member countries during the one-day mini-summit on Wednesday,” a senior ECOWAS official told IRIN.

The summit will be chaired by Malian President Alpha Konare, the current chairman of ECOWAS. Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo and ECOWAS Executive Secretary Lansana Kouyate will also address the meeting, officials said. However, Guinean radio reported on Monday that Guinea’s president, Lansana Conte, would not attend because his Liberian counterpart was going to be there.

Liberian President Charles Taylor claims Guinea is supporting armed dissidents fighting in northern Liberia. Conte has accused Taylor of backing Sierra Leonean rebels fighting his troops in southern Guinea.