GHANA: A CEASEFIRE HAS BEEN SIGNED BY LIBERIA'S GOVERNMENT AND REBELS AIMED AT STOPPING WEST AFRICA'S BLOODIEST CONFLICT

Record ID: 647877

  • Title: GHANA: A CEASEFIRE HAS BEEN SIGNED BY LIBERIA'S GOVERNMENT AND REBELS AIMED AT STOPPING WEST AFRICA'S BLOODIEST CONFLICT
  • Date: 17th June 2003
  • Summary: (U6) ACCRA, GHANA (JUNE 17, 2003) (REUTERS -- ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV CONFERENCE HALL 0.04 2. SV/CU GOVERNMENT AND REBELS SIGNING CEASEFIRE DOCUMENT (3 SHOTS) 0.18 3. SV DELEGATES APPLAUDING 0.21 4. SV LURD REBEL LEADER KABINEH JA' NEH AND LIBERIAN DEFENCE MINISTER DANIEL CHEA 0.27 5. SLV OF PEOPLE 0.30 6. SV JA'NEH AND CHEA POSING FOR PHOTO 0.34 7. MCU (English) LURD REBEL LEADER KABINEH JA' NEH SAYING: "We want to assure honestly that we are truly committed to the search for genuine lasting peace in our country." 0.50 8. CU SIGN SAYING LURD 0.54 9. MCU (English) LIBERIA'S DEFENCE MINISTER DANIEL CHEA SAYING: "The government of the Republic of Liberia wishes in no way to be a part of any further bloodshed in our country." 1.04 10. SV CHEA SPEAKING 1.08 11. SLV/SV LIBERIA'S DELEGATES SINGING LIBERIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM (2 SHOTS) 1.22 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 2nd July 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ACCRA, GHANA
  • Country: Ghana
  • Reuters ID: LVA68J6R95EZIXUJKJ302X9DUHP1
  • Story Text: A ceasefire has been signed by Liberia's government and
    rebels aimed at stopping West Africa's bloodiest conflict.



    Liberia's government and rebels signed a ceasefire on
    Tuesday (June 17) to stop West Africa's bloodiest conflict and
    agreed that President Charles Taylor would eventually step
    down for a new administration.

    The deal at talks in Ghana said full peace negotiations
    should be completed within 30 days. But it did not specify
    when the transition government should replace Taylor, who has
    been indicted for war crimes by a U.N.-backed court.

    Taylor has previously offered to step down when his
    elected mandate ends in January.

    Defence Minister Daniel Chea described the deal as a
    victory for the Liberian people, who have borne the brunt of
    nearly 14 years of conflict that have also spawned a tangle of
    regional wars and made Liberia a pariah state.

    "The government of the Republic of Liberia wishes in no
    way to be a part of any further bloodshed in our country,"
    Chea said.

    The deal, which is due to silence Liberia's guns from 1
    a.m. (same GMT) on Wednesday (June 18), also provides for a
    team of monitors to mark out the ill-defined front line so
    that peacekeepers could deploy to prevent any return to war.

    "We want to assure honestly that we are truly committed to
    the search for genuine lasting peace in our country," LURD
    rebel leader Kabineh Ja' Neh said.

    Cheering greeted news of the deal in the war-battered
    streets of the capital Monrovia.

    Despite the optimism, big questions remain over the
    timetable for the transition.

    Taylor, a former warlord who won 1997 elections, has
    warned that there will be no peace unless the indictment
    against him for war crimes in Sierra Leone is dropped.

    Fighting over the past few days has also raised doubts
    over how serious the belligerents are about ending the
    violence and many in Liberia remember more than a dozen deals
    signed and then broken during a seven-year civil war in the
    1990s.

    Rebels and the government accused each other of launching
    attacks on several fronts on Monday (June 16).

    The clashes were well away from Monrovia, where fighting last week drove
    tens of thousands of people from their homes.

    The United States has come under pressure from Liberians
    and some foreign groups to play a bigger role, given its
    strong historical ties.




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