25 June 2003
Security Council Mission Leaves for West Africa
(Council members to look at political and humanitarian problems in
region) (1070)
By Judy Aita, Washington File United Nations Correspondent
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- A Security Council mission to West Africa will focus
on the hostilities and peace efforts in Guinea-Bissau, Cote d'Ivoire,
and Liberia, the head of the mission said June 25.
U.K. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock, head of the mission, said that the
group plans to go to Liberia but if the security situation is too
precarious, it will attempt to meet with as many factions involved as
possible from Accra.
If he is able to meet with Liberian President Charles Taylor,
Greenstock said, he will tell him "It's time for a change. It's time
to put the Liberian people first."
The general feeling in the Security Council is that there "should be
an end to the Charles Taylor government," he said.
But most important, Greenstock said, regional leaders need to put
pressure on Liberian leaders and parties to produce a government that
will work for the Liberian people.
"The region needs to own the politics of the Liberian tragedy and we
are there in a supportive capacity," he said.
The mission will begin in Guinea-Bissau on June 26 meeting with top
government officials including President Yalla Koumba and Prime
Minister Mario Antonio Avelino Reis Pires. Other scheduled stops are
Nigeria on June 29; Ghana June 30; Cote d'Ivoire July 1; Liberia July
2; Guinea July 3 and Sierra Leone July 4.
All 15 nations on the Security Council are participating in the
mission. Mission members include Ambassador Richard Williamson of the
United States, Ambassador Alexander Konuzin of Russia; Ambassador
Michel Duclos of France, Ambassador Ismael Abraao Gaspar Martins of
Angola, Ambassador Martin Chungong Ayafor of Cameroon, and Ambassador
Adolfo Aguilar Zinser of Mexico. In Guinea Bissau, five ambassadors
representing the Economic and Social Council will join the group.
The mission will look into the humanitarian and human rights
situations as well as review the status of agreements for restoring
peace, stability and normality in the West African region,
particularly in Guinea-Bissau, Cote d'Ivoire, and Liberia, Greenstock
said at a press conference June 25.
He characterized the mission as "valuable and necessary" and said it
"shows the Security Council is playing close attention to regions of
Africa which badly need international attention."
(A different Security Council mission recently returned from the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring states.)
Throughout the mission, council members will not just be looking at
the political situations, but also at humanitarian issues, Greenstock
said.
West Africa "is one of the regions of the world which is in a
condition of real distress at present," he said. "Ordinary people are
suffering miserably from conflicts washing backwards and forwards.
"We have talked in detail with the Office of Coordinator of
Humanitarian Affairs about their interest in and views of West Africa
and taken from them a number of recommendations for action on
humanitarian issues: protection of civilians, particularly women and
children; the issue of children recruited into armed conflict; the
condition of families and gender issues; the use of violence against
women and children as a tool of war; and other current and very
relevant humanitarian issues," Greenstock said.
In Guinea-Bissau, the mission will focus on peace-building and efforts
to improve the sensitive and fragile domestic situation in the lead-up
to re-scheduled elections. The mission will press for "better
relationships between the main political leaders and policies that
will have an effect on the welfare and economic rehabilitation of the
internal situation for the sake of the people."
"In Cote d'Ivoire we are following up on the work within the region to
implement the LMA (Lineas-Marcoussis Accords) agreement which is a
good agreement and something that needs to be built on between the
protagonists in the recent civil strife ... particularly in the north
and west of the country," the ambassador said.
"We want to talk with the government and with the other factions and
with the leadership of the armed forces to try to make sure the (peace
agreement) is implemented, that it is followed in spirit as well as in
letter, and that it is the people of Cote d'Ivoire ... that are given
priority in terms of decisions made in politics and security issues
over the next six months," Greenstock said.
In Liberia, the ambassador said, "the Security Council wants to lend
its own support to those negotiations to try and use what weight it
can generate to persuade the political leaders of all factions to come
together and agree on what the next political arrangements are to be"
Calling the situation in the country "pretty distressing," Greenstock
said that missions, such as the one he heads, put a severe strain on
those responsible for protecting the diplomats and he will follow the
advice of U.N. security in deciding whether the mission will visit. At
the moment, he said, the situation is "looking pretty negative."
The mission was scheduled to meet with Taylor, Foreign Minister Monie
Captan, the Mano River Women's Network for Peace, the Inter-Religious
Council of Liberia, the international contact group for Liberia, and
members of various political parties.
On June 25 explosives landed in the U.S. diplomatic complex where
Liberians had taken refuge. The fighting ended a cease-fire and raised
prospects that the fighting would erupt into an all-out battle for the
capital. Earlier in the month French military helicopters and warships
evacuated foreigners.
Regardless of the fighting, work needs to be done to get the warring
factions and government to talk about political arrangements to
replace the Taylor government with a more broadly-based one,
Greenstock said.
"Even if we don't go to Liberia the time will be spent on Liberia with
ECOWAS and the foreign minister of Ghana in Accra where the mission
will go instead," the ambassador said. "The mission intends to talk to
as many factions relevant to a peace agreement in Liberia as we can,
and representatives of civil society, humanitarian groups, other
political parties we may find in the other capitals" during the trip."
The mission will also "check on the state of the rebuilding process in
Sierra Leone -- which is one of the more satisfactory stories in West
Africa in recent years -- and see whether we can take forward further
progress," Greenstock said.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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