Liberian Government, rebel groups restart peace talks in Accra, Ghana-UN

The Liberian peace talks resumed in Accra, Ghana, today as government officials met with rebel groups after a week-long adjournment to pick up discussions on ways to reach a comprehensive settlement, according to a United Nations spokesperson.

Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) mediator for Liberia, held a series of meetings with representatives of the various groups to discuss their views on a comprehensive peace plan for the country, spokesperson Hua Jiang said in New York.

The groups include the Government of Liberia, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), the Movement for Democracy and Elections in Liberia (MODEL), political parties and civil society, she said, adding that Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Representative for Liberia Abou Moussa has been in Accra. In addition, Mr. Annan has dispatched his Special Representative for West Africa Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah.

In other news, the spokesperson announced that a 10-month ban on the import of all round logs and timber products originating from Liberia went into effect today. The measure was contained in Security Council Resolution 1478 of 7 May, which extended sanctions against Liberia through 2004, and widened their scope to include a ban on timber exports in addition to existing arms and diamond embargoes. The ban was prompted, because the Liberian Government had not shown that revenue from the timber industry was used for legitimate social, humanitarian and development purposes.

Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that 300 Sierra Leonean refugees evacuated from war-torn Liberia arrived safely in the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown over the weekend aboard a UNHCR-chartered rescue ship.

The MV Overbeck arrived in Freetown on Saturday night in the first voyage of an emergency evacuation aimed at bringing home thousands of Sierra Leonean refugees currently stranded in the Liberian capital, Monrovia.

Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom, who led the Council's just-completed mission to West Africa, is expected to brief the 15-nation body at UN Headquarters in New York on Wednesday. Before leaving the region, he held a wrap-up press conference in Freetown, during which he stressed that although the delegation had not gone into Liberia, a great deal of work had been done on the situation in the country, including meetings in Accra with representatives of all parts of the political spectrum and civil society in and from Liberia.