Annan calls for dialogue

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for dialogue between Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as the humanitarian and security situation along the three countries’ borders continues to give cause for concern, according to a statement issued on Wednesday in New York. The recent escalation of fighting in Lofa County, northern Liberia, between Liberian government forces and insurgents “underscores the need to address the underlying causes of this growing instability,” the statement reported Annan as saying. He supported a recent call by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for the leaders of the three countries to meet urgently and find ways of resolving the dispute peacefully, the UN reported. Fighting between Guinean government troops and insurgents has been continuing since September 2000. Tens of thousands of refugees caught up in the conflict in southern Guinea have either fled farther into Guinea’s interior or have returned home.