Accra, June 4, GNA - Liberia's President Charles Taylor has not been arrested in Ghana, Mr Kwabena Agyepong, the Press Secretary to the President, said on Wednesday. "President Taylor has not been arrested. He is not under house arrest. He is not under any form of arrest," Mr Agyepong told the Ghana News Agency in Accra. He said as far as he was aware, the government had not received any arrest warrant from the UN War Crimes Court in Sierra Leone.
The Court said on Wednesday it had issued an arrest warrant for President Taylor, who is in Ghana to attend peace talks aimed at ending more than 12 years of bloodshed in his country. The Court indicted President Taylor in March for his alleged role in the bloody Sierra Leone conflict. President Taylor was among five Presidents and one Prime Minister who attended the opening ceremony of the talks, which would continue for two weeks at Akosombo and Akuse.
Among those present were President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Chairman of the African Union, President Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d'Ivoire, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone. Prime Minister Koffi Sama represented President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo while Foreign Minister, Francois Fall stood in for President Lansana Conte of Guinea.
The facilitator of the talks is former Nigerian President Abdulsalami Abubakar. A statement issued by Mr Agyepong said the Heads of State and governments held consultations on the Liberian conflict and explored ways in which they could offer support to the efforts of the African Union, ECOWAS and International Contact Group to end the war in Liberia and build peace and stability.
The statement said they pledged to provide all the necessary assistance to the talks. "The Leaders also established an informal Heads of State Contact Group on Liberia comprising President Mbeki, President John Agyekum Kufuor, President Obasanjo and President Eyadema to work closely with all the Liberian parties in order to facilitate the smooth and effective implementation of the transitional arrangements that might be agreed upon at the Akosombo Talks."
