ECOWAS military chiefs discuss intervention force

Military chiefs of defence staff from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) began a two-day meeting in Ghana on Thursday to discuss the shape and size of an intervention force to monitor the fragile ceasefire in Liberia. A Joint Verification Team (JVT) was meanwhile expected to fly into the Liberian capital Monrovia to begin charting the positions on the ground of the government and two rebel movements following a 17 June ceasefire agreement. The team, which includes government and rebel representatives, is expected to complete its work before an intervention force arrives to try and stop 14 years of near constant civil war. Its deployment was delayed by a fresh rebel assault on Monrovia after the truce was supposed to have taken effect. Ghana's Lieutenant-General Seth Obeng, Chairman of the ECOWAS Defence and Security Commission, said: "It is heartening to know that the JVT has finally left. We hope the team's report will give us the ingredients of handling the Liberian mayhem as well as giving us knowledge of the real situation on the ground." ECOWAS Executive Secretary, Mohammed Ibn Chambas told the meeting of ECOWAS military chiefs: "The situation in Liberia is grave. We need to talk about sending an international intervention force in to Liberia. It needs to go in now and very quickly to keep the warring factions apart, secure Monrovia and pave the way for humanitarian agencies to move in." He reiterated ECOWAS's wish that the intervention force should be led by the United States, while including military contingents from other West African states. "The force should operate as an arrowhead and operate as in Sierra Leone, where ECOWAS worked with the British, and in Cote d'Ivoire, where we worked with the French. We therefore appeal to the United States to come along with ECOWAS into Liberia," Chambas said. The US government, responding to international pressure to intervene in Liberia, said on Wednesday it was "considering all options" to help resolve the crisis. President George Bush has demanded that Liberian President Charles Taylor step down immediately and leave the country. Washington is widely expected to announce that it will send 500 to 1,000 troops to Liberia from its forces in Europe. Diplomats said Taylor's refusal to step down, despite an offer by Nigeria to provide a safe haven for him, was delaying a US decision. The Accra meeting of ECOWAS military chiefs was attended by 11 out of the organisation's 15 member states. Liberia, Sierra Leone, Niger and Guinea did not send representatives. Chambas told reporters on Wednesday that ECOWAS had invited Morocco and South Africa as well as the United States to provide troops and transport facilities for the proposed intervention force. Ghanaian President John Kufuor has publicly suggested that ECOWAS send a 5,000-strong intervention force to Liberia. His proposal was due to be discussed at Thursday's meeting in Accra, which will determine what level of contribution each of the ECOWAS states can provide. "By Friday evening, we will have a clearer idea on the actual strength of the proposed intervention force and what each country can contribute," a military source told IRIN. Peace-talks Mediator, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, urged the military chiefs to quickly find the best way of sending in troops in Liberia to prevent cease-fire violations from recurring. Abubakar, a former Nigerian head of state, is facilitating peace talks in Accra between the Liberian government and rebels. These were due to resume on Friday following a week-long break to allow for a full cessation of hostilities on the ground.