Liberians to study text of peace plan

Accra, July 18, GNA- Stakeholders at the Liberia Peace Talks in Ghana have up to Tuesday, to study and agree on a proposed text for a Comprehensive Peace Plan (PPP). The parties to the peace plan include the Liberian government, the two rebel groups - Liberians United for Reconciliation and Development (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), the 18 political parties and other civil society groups.

A source at the ECOWAS Secretariat told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra on Friday, that major differences between the three warring factions over the hierarchy of an interim administration was the sticky issue holding back the transitional process. The 30-day deadline for the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Plan ended on Thursday in a stalemate since the stakeholders could not strike a compromise.

Peace talks to end the bloodshed started in Accra on June 4 and the warring factions signed a Ceasefire Agreement on June 17 that called for a transitional government to fashion a lasting peace.

The source said the political parties and the civil society groups had no problem with how the transitional arrangement was packaged although they insisted on the rule of law and respect for the sanctity of the Liberian Constitution.

The peace agreement was signed after intensive back-door negotiations and brainstorming that had gone on since June 4. "We are definitely sure that there is going to be a peace plan on Tuesday," the source said.

The talks being facilitated by Former Nigerian Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar was initially faced by pre-conditions set by LURD and MODEL for President Charles Taylor to step down following his indictment by the UN War Crimes Court in Sierra Leone before they signed the agreement.

President Taylor has bowed to international pressure and decided to step down and go into exile in Nigeria, but only after the arrival of an international peacekeeping force led by the US. As Taylor's departure is awaited, stakeholders have been jockeying for positions in the interim government. However, US President George Bush has said the interim government should not include any of the warring factions.

The LURD rebel group has announced their intention to head the government, while Mr Louis Brown, a Liberian Government representative, insists that Vice-President, Mr Moses Blah, should complete the term of office of President Taylor when he steps down. Meanwhile, ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff would be meeting in Senegal on July 20, to agree on the timetable for the deployment of a Nigerian-led Vanguard Force of 1,000 to implement the ceasefire agreement. The international community has hailed the deployment of the troops as the right approach to halt the crisis and the carnage that has beset the 3.5 million people of Liberia. General Festus Okonkwo, Commander of the Vanguard Force, is expected in Accra on Friday at the head of a 10-member military team to Liberia on a fact-finding mission.

The Joint Verification Team (JVT) that was stranded in Sierra Leone for more than three weeks due to logistics problems, is expected in Liberia at the weekend to begin the demarcation of locations of the three warring factions before they signed the June 17 Ceasefire Agreement. The 15-member JVT comprises the three belligerent groups, representatives from the ECOWAS, the African Union (AU) and the International Contact Group on Liberia.