15 September 2003
U.S. Diplomat Sees Regional Action Key to Liberian Peace Process
Bruce Ehrnman describes Africa "ownership" of process
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The recent Liberian peace agreement signed in Accra is more likely to hold because it was fostered by African leaders such as Ghanaian President John Kufuor and will be maintained by such regional bodies as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), says Bruce Ehrnman, a U.S. diplomat who observed the negotiating process.
"While I was in Accra working with the Africans, I saw some very effective diplomacy done by some very dedicated people, who applied made-in-Africa solutions to regional problems. I think it is that type of ownership that is going to make this agreement hold," he said.
Ehrnman, a political/economic officer in the State Department who previously served in Bosnia and as Consul-General in Halifax, Nova Scotia, spoke to the Washington File soon after returning from a month's stay in Accra where he observed the negotiations that led to the peace agreement signed by Liberia's warring parties in mid-August.
The agreement was reached after President Charles Taylor left the war-torn country and just after a contingent of U.S. Marines from an amphibious unit made a brief intervention in Monrovia, accompanying the vanguard force of 1,500 West African troops under the aegis of the Economic Organization of Western African States (ECOWAS). By September the latter had grown to over 3,000 African troops as the bulk of the U.S. force departed August 25, leaving around 100 troops as an augmented embassy security detail.
The ultimate goal in Liberia is to have a United Nations-backed peacekeeping operation take over from ECOWAS and provide security, especially in the countryside, for the disarmament and demobilization phases of the peace agreement
"ECOWAS," Ehrnman added, "played and continues to play an essential role in the Liberian peace process and everyone was pleased to see a regional solution to a conflict that has bedeviled the region for years."
In ECOWAS, said Ehrnman, "what you have is an organization of African countries who are all, to varying degrees, fledgling democracies trying to open up their economies. And they are coming up with very innovative ideas."
According to Ehrnman, a driving force at the talks was Ghanaian President John Kufuor, who became chairman of ECOWAS in January. "Proud of the fact that he had come to office in a free and fair election, Kufuor had the prestige and credibility to pursue a very activist diplomacy. During the talks, regardless of who the audience was, he never missed an opportunity to press for democracy, accountability and transparency."
The diplomat said Kufuor "called a number of extraordinary summits of leaders to discuss the Liberian crisis. He went to Monrovia, along with South African President Thabo Mbeki, to escort Charles Taylor out of the country. Later, Kufuor presided over the signing of the agreement August 18, for which he deserves a lot of credit for putting together."
President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria also deserves much credit for the Liberian solution, the diplomat said. During the negotiation process, "he came to Accra several times and dispatched his predecessor [General A. Abubakar] as chief mediator, who is a wonderful man and turned out to be the perfect type of diplomat to hold down that position."
Ehrnman noted that while individuals were critical to success in Accra, ECOWAS "provided a framework and, more importantly, set some parameters for the talks." A guideline they especially wanted to enshrine was that "it is no longer permissible to come to power in Africa at the point of a gun."
Because of that, "they insisted that none of the warring factions [like Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) or Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) would assume the top offices in the transitional government" headed by Liberian businessman Gyude Bryant.
"ECOWAS did not come together and do this because we asked it to, or because [U.N. Secretary General] Kofi Annan asked them to." Ehrnman emphasized. "They came together because they had this festering problem in their neighborhood and realized they had to deal with it.
"So they put together a mediation team consisting of a number of West African military, diplomatic and political experts on conflict resolution. There were also some very important consultations with [President Gnassingbe] Eyadema of Togo, with [President Laurent] Gbagbo of Cote d'Ivoire, with [President Lasana] Conte from Guinea and others."
Ehrnman noted, "As much as the United States and other donors are helping support the deployment of ECOWAS forces, both in Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia, there are still a lot of costs borne by the ECOWAS governments. If you just look at the number of hours or days that Kufuor, Obasanjo and others involved have spent on the peace process, it represents a substantial investment. So, it is this type of stakeholdership in the peace process that is what we think will make the agreements sustainable.
"Certainly, there is a role for the United States, for Europe and the U.N. in all this," he added. For example, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner dropped in on the talks, which was important because "it personalized the U.S. Government's commitment" to the talks and "reinforced the U.S. position that this should be an ECOWAS process from beginning to end."
"But what we saw in Accra," said Ehrnman, summarizing his experience, "were Africans and their organizations standing front and center, bringing their own regional perspective, expertise and political talents to the mediation process; working with the parties to shape the parameters of a workable outcome."
(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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