Cameroon and Nigeria set to adopt UN-sponsored withdrawal plan

A United Nations-chaired panel set up to peacefully resolve the border dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria is about to adopt its plan for the scheduled withdrawal of troops from the Lake Chad area and to improve cooperation between the two countries.

At a two-day meeting in Yaoundé, Cameroon, starting today, the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission is expected to accept the plan, according to a communiqué issued yesterday by Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative for West Africa, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah.

Mr. Ould-Abdallah said a working group set up last month to arrange the details of the withdrawal of troops and transfer of authority in the Lake Chad area had found the local population and authorities to be "peaceful and ready for the handover."

Representatives from the UN will witness the troop withdrawal and handover to ensure it is peaceful and amicable, the draft plan states.

The Yaoundé meeting is also expected to discuss the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria, cross-border security and the setting up of confidence-building measures.

Mr. Annan established the Mixed Commission last year at the request of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Paul Biya of Cameroon. It is chaired by Mr. Ould-Abdallah and includes delegations from both countries. This week's meeting in Yaoundé is the Commission's seventh since it began work last December.