ACCRA, 17 June (IRIN) - The government
of Liberian President Charles Taylor signed a ceasefire agreement with
two rebels movements in Ghana on Tuesday, paving way for talks on a comprehensive
peace plan and a transitional government which would exclude Taylor.
West African diplomats who brokered
the peace talks said the ceasefire would be monitored and enforced by a
peacekeeping force led by the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS).
Other details of the ceasefire agreement, negotiated at a hotel in the Ghanaian capital Accra, were not immediately released.
However, diplomats close to the peace talks said the warring parties had agreed to discuss the formation of a transitional government within 30 days. The government would exclude Taylor, who declared at the start of the peace talks on 4 June that he was ready to step down at the end of his present term, in January 2004.
The sources said all the political parties and civil society groups involved in the past two weeks of peace talks in Ghana were expected to participate in the transitional government.
Mohammed Ibn Chambas, the Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, said the ceasefire represented the first step of the process of bringing lasting peace in Liberia.
"By the weekend, the joint verification team will get into Liberia to stake out the positions of the former combatants. This will prepare the path for an ECOWAS-led intervention force to enter Liberia to enforce the cease-fire," Chambas said.
"Immediately after this, we will start the political discussions, which will touch on the interim all-inclusive government, future elections and the involvement or exclusion of Taylor in these processes," he added.
The talks moderator, former Nigerian head of state General Abdulsalami Abubakar, said that with the signing of the truce "all pockets of continues fighting in Liberia should cease by 01:00 GMT on Wednesday."
The conference hall erupted in applause as Liberian government representative, Defense Minister Daniel Chea shook hands with and hugged Tia Slanger of the rebel Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) and Kabineh Jan'eh of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD)rebel movement. Delegates to the talks burst into singing the Liberian national anthem.
The agreement was signed after two weeks of stop and go talks, which started in the lakeside town of Akosombo, 100 km north of Accra and moved to the capital itself on Monday. The negotiations were interrupted for a week immediately after the formal opening ceremony by a rebel assault on the Liberian capital, Monrovia and Taylor's indictment by a UN-backed Special Court in Sierra Leone for war crimes. They resumed last Thursday under intense international pressure.
General Abubakar said after the signing of the ceasefire agreement that the unity of purpose exhibited by all Liberians at the conference offered great hope to Liberians all over the world that their ordeal as refugees and war victims would soon be over.
"This is a giant step for all Liberians affected by the guns. It gives me hope and relief that children will no more be exposed to bullets, mothers and fathers will come out of the refugee camps and go home to live in peace. This is what the signing of the cease-fire agreement means," Abubakar said.
He warned the government and the LURD and MODEL rebels groups "not to betray their Liberian compatriots" by violating the cease-fire. "The eyes of the whole world are on you now," he stressed.
Slanger gave the assurance that his group would abide by the terms of the cease-fire agreement and not do anything to jeopardize peace in Liberia. "Above all, the interest of the Liberian people comes first. This should be the beginning of a sustainable peace in our country and we should all work for the betterment of our country," he said.
Jan'eh said that LURD, which has been fighting Taylor's government since 1999, stood for the unity of all Liberians and was committed to a lasting peace for the country. He said the rebel movement was prepared to work with all other parties to achieve this objective. "No more shall our people take guns to settle our grievances. Let us find ways to silence the guns and see to the prosperity of our people," he said.
However Jan'eh also sounded a note of caution. "Let me make it clear. The document we have just signed falls short of all the things we want. In the supreme interest of our country and people, we have all made concessions," he said.
Chea said by signing the cease-fire, all the three warring factions had given victory to all Liberians, especially the thousands of Liberians who have fallen victim of the armed aggression.
"Let the world know that the government of Liberia will be in no way involved in bloodshed in our country. Charles Taylor conveys to all that his government fully supports the Akosombo Peace Accord and that he will do everything to unite all Liberians to bring lasting peace to the country," he said.
Chea, the government's defence minister, said there were no winners in war. He called on Liberians to resolve to be more tolerant in the future and accept dialogue as a way of settling their differences. "The government of Liberia will immediately begin to promulgate military orders to support the cease-fire and will in no way undermine the peace process," he said.
News of the ceasefire was greeted with joy in Monrovia by civilians and soldiers alike. One pick-up military pick-up truck drove round the city centre with cheering soldiers who had tied white cloths to the barrels of their guns.
[ENDS]
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