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Liberians begin new era
« on: Aug 19th, 2003, 2:15pm » |
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Liberians begin new era
Tuesday, August 19, 2003 Posted: 5:00 AM EDT (0900 GMT)
MONROVIA, Liberia -- Liberians began a new era Tuesday after a peace deal signed by government and rebel factions offered new hope to the broken West African country.
As calm gradually returned to the capital, Monrovia, politicians were moving to begin the process of choosing a chairman for an interim government. A decision is expected later this week.
At the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the signing of the peace agreement which all sides hope will put an end to nearly 14 years of bitter bloodshed.
Annan's spokesman Fred Eckhard said in a statement that Annan "calls on all concerned to seize this opportunity to work together to restore peace and stability in the country" and urged international support for Liberia.
The deal in Ghana between President Moses Blah's government and two rebels groups holding more than three-quarters of the country came a week after former president Charles Taylor -- under international pressure including from the U.S. -- flew into exile in Nigeria.
Under the deal, Blah will step down in October in favor of the interim government chairman. The chairman, who will not come from any of the warring factions, has the task of guiding Liberians to elections by 2005.
The rebels -- the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel faction and a smaller group known as Model -- along with Blah's government, opposition parties and civil society groups will share jobs in the cabinet and parliament.
The agreement came as a welcome relief to residents of Monrovia, where 2,000 people died in the most recent spell of blood-letting before the deployment of West African peacekeepers, backed by U.S. Marines.
"This country has not been in peace since as long as I can remember," 38-year old Sanfo Massaquoi, putting his arm protectively around his eight-year-old daughter, told Reuters.
"I hope there is going to be peace, so I can find a job and make a living."
The White House also welcomed news of the signing. Liberia was settled in 1822 by freed American slaves with assistance and support from U.S. citizens and politicians.
"This historic agreement provides the people of Liberia and its new leadership an unprecedented opportunity to begin the process of healing and reconciliation toward a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Liberia," a White House statement said.
A U.S. delegation has played an influential role at the talks and witnessed a June 17 cease-fire, but the Bush administration has insisted that West African nations assume the task of making and keeping the peace.
The support role played by 200 U.S. Marines is to end by October 1, made unnecessary by deployment of an expanded U.N. force, President George W. Bush said in an interview made public Monday.
"Their job is to help secure an airport and a port so food can be off-loaded and the delivery process begun to help people in Monrovia," Bush told the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service in an interview last week when he visited the Miramar Marine Air Station in California.
"We'll be out of there by October the 1st. We've got U.N. blue-helmeted troops ready to replace our limited number of troops."
Meanwhile, a semblance of normality was quickly returning to the battered capital of Monrovia, with businesses and banks open for the first time in weeks and more food shipments expected.
One aid ship has docked in Monrovia's Freeport since rebels relinquished control of it late last week, but a second ran into a storm en route and sank off the coast of Sierra Leone.
Rich Moseanko, an official with World Vision, the aid agency that owns the ship, said the supplies were lost but the crew of 22 was rescued. (Full story)
-- CNN correspondent Jeff Koinange and journalist Kwaku Sakyi-Addo contributed to this report
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