Liberia's Charles Taylor supports Morocco's settlement plan for Mano crisis

Liberia's president, Charles Taylor, voiced support to king Mohammed VI's settlement plan for the crisis in the Mano river sub-region, the "New Liberian" daily said.

According to the source, Taylor called the OAU and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) during a meeting with Organization of African Unity's special envoy, Keli Walubita, to back the "Rabat initiative."

The Liberian government has recently rejected an ECOWAS call for cease-fire between Liberian forces and the rebels who have been warring since 1999.

The Liberian minister of communication voiced discontent over the ECOWAS tendency to put the rebels and the Liberian government on an equal footing, and warned the organization against "giving signals that would give terrorists unjustified credibility," the Pan-African news agency (PANA) said.

The presidents of Liberia, Charles Taylor, of Guinea, Lansana Cont?, and of Sierra-Leone, Ahmed Tejan Kabbah held a reconciliation summit last February at the initiative of King Mohammed VI.

The three presidents adopted a set of measures concerning security along their common borders, repatriation of refugees and assistance to displaced persons, and reactivation of the Mano River Union administration.

The Mano River Union, set up in 1970 to improve trade relations and exchanges between the three countries, was however paralyzed due to strained relations between the three member countries, which accuse each other of launching attacks against their respective territories.

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.