Ghana to assist in deployment of troops to Liberia

Maputo, July 11, GNA- Ghana, Nigeria and Mali have decided to send troops to Liberia to stabilize the situation after the departure of Liberian President Charles Taylor.

President Taylor has given one condition to move out of Liberia if there was a force in place to prevent chaos, confusion and destruction of lives and property after his departure.

President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria announced this when he addressed a Press Conference on the Liberian situation at the on-going three-day Second Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Maputo, Mozambique.

He said with such a condition, it was necessary to get the force in place quickly to assist with the exit of President Taylor, adding, "ECOWAS can quickly get such a force of about 1,000 to 5,000 troops to stabilize the situation as a vanguard for a bigger force.

"We are expecting the force from three West African countries, Ghana, Nigeria and Mali and any other International Community but the countries have given the assurance", he said.

President Obasanjo said the United States of America (USA) had agreed to send some troops but could not tell the number neither could indicate when and how they would be deployed.

In an answer to a question, President Obasanjo said Nigeria decided to grant political asylum to President Taylor on humanitarian grounds and more importantly for the sake of the Liberian people than President Taylor.

He said Nigeria, had contributed a lot to the Liberian conflict in the past and, therefore, had to do something to bring the sacrifices made previously to good results and the decision was not based on pressures from any quarters.

President Obasanjo reiterated his call that with the decision taken, Nigeria did not want to be harassed by anybody, institution or country. He observed that if Nigeria had not taken the decision, it was likely the conflict would continue and more blood would be shed, other groups would enter the bush and create more problems for neighbouring countries like Cote d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Guinea.