King Mohammed holds work session with Presidents of Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone
Morocco-Regional, Politics, 2/27/2002

Morocco's King Mohammed VI held this Wednesday at the Royal office in Rabat a work session with the presidents of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, respectively Charles Taylor, Lansana Conte and Ahmed Tejan Kabbah.

The three African heads of state are holding a reconciliation summit sponsored by the sovereign.

The Liberian president was accompanied by Monie Captan, foreign minister and Lewis Brown, advisor for national security, while the Guinean president was flanked by Camara Hadja Mahawa Bangoura, foreign minister, and Col. Kerfallah Camara, chief of staff of the Guinean armed forces. Sierra Leone's president was accompanied by Chief Hinga Norman, deputy-defense minister and Cheka Manfaray, his secretary.

On the Moroccan side, minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohamed Benaissa, Mohamed Rochdi Chraibi, head of the sovereign's office and Taib Fassi Fihri, secretary of state for foreign affairs and cooperation also attended the work session.

Meantime, ving ambassador and special envoy of Liberia's President Charles Taylor, Ahmed Salame Mohamed, hailed on Tuesday King Mohammed VI's initiative to sponsor a summit meeting of the heads of state of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to settle the dispute in the Mano River region. "We thank H.M. the King not only for sponsoring the summit but also for being personally involved in seeking consensus to establish peace in this region," the Liberian diplomat told MAP.

Presidents of Guinea, Lansana Conte, of Liberia, Charles Taylor, and of Sierra Leone, Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, are to hold a two-day summit meeting in Rabat as of this Wednesday. The summit, held at the initiative of King Mohammed VI, will seek means of establishing a lasting peace in the Mano river region and defusing tension between the three countries, which are charging each other of backing troops that launch attacks against their respective territories.

"We expect the summit to provide an opportunity for communication between the three heads of state," the diplomat said. After he recalled that the presidents of Liberia and Sierra Leone are in touch every day, he expressed hope that "everything will go well between the presidents of Liberia, Charles Taylor, and of Guinea, Lansana Conte, whom he described as "a peace-loving man."

The sovereign's initiative to convene the tripartite summit was also hailed by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as a happy initiative. Annan had Tuesday morning a telephone conversation with King Mohammed VI to voice the United Nations' encouragement to the sovereign's initiative. Guinea and Liberia charge each other of backing groups that wage attacks against their respective territories. Following an escalation of attacks in southern Guinea, at the borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone, by the end of 2000 and early 2001, the Guinean president declined to meet Liberia's Charles Taylor. Liberia is also charged with extending backing to a rebel movement in Sierra Leone. The Mano River Union was set up in 1970 in a bid to improve trade relations and exchanges between the three countries. Mano River flows down from north-western Liberia, at the border with Guinea, runs along Sierra Leone's borders and flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Meantime, Moroccan minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohammed Benaissa, held a meeting Tuesday evening with the foreign ministers of the aforementioned three countries.

Previous Stories:
  Presidents of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, in Morocco for summit talks on Peace in Mano River region   (2/26/2002)
  Moroccan minister in Istanbul's OIC-EU forum on harmonization of cultures   (2/12/2002)
  Morocco insists on sub-regional, bilateral action to promote political stability, economic development in Africa   (1/30/2002)

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