ECOWAS PRESS STATEMENT
Monday August 4th 2003

President John Agyekum Kufuor, Chairman of ECOWAS has held discussions with UN Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, President Obasanjo of Nigeria and President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone on the ongoing crisis in Liberia.

The discussions centered on the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Liberia, the imminent departure of President Taylor and the urgent need for ECOWAS to deploy its military force.

Also present were the Foreign Ministers of Cote' d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria and the Executive Secretary of ECOWAS.

President Obasanjo briefed the meeting about his trip to Liberia on July 6, 2003 and noted that arrangements were far advanced for the departure of President Taylor to Nigeria.

The ECOWAS leaders expressed concern about the need to speed up the deployment of ECOWAS troops in Liberia to avoid a political vacuum and worsening of the humanitarian situation. They agreed to commence with the deployment of an initial force of 1000 troops to be followed by the full deployment by an International Stabilization force.

Outcomes Of the ECOWAS/UN Meeting of Wednesday, July 09, 2003

• President Obasanjo to name a Force Commander for the ECOWAS Mission in Liberia by Friday, July 11, 2003.
• Force Commander to be in Accra, Ghana by Friday, July 11, 2003 for meeting with ECOWAS Military planning cell and US Military Team. The Commanders of the contingent of Ghana and Mali should also be in Accra.
• President Obasanjo to visit Conakry, Guinea for consultations with President Conte on Sunday, July 13, 2003.
• Nigeria to confirm availability of two helicopters for JVT by Friday, July 11, 2003.
• JVT to proceed to Liberia by Monday, July 14, 2003.
• Ghana, Mali and Nigeria to confirm troop contributions for vanguard force of the ECOWAS Mission in Liberia (ECOMILI) by Friday, July 11, 2003.
• Deployment of the vanguard troops of ECOMILI by Monday, July 28, 2003.
• Deployment of vanguard troops should facilitate the handover by President Taylor to a successor latest by August 2003.
• Liberian stakeholders at Accra Peace Talks to agree a comprehensive Peace Agreement on governance up till October 2004.