Strasbourg, 05/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday in Strasbourg, the Parliament adopted a joint resolution by five political groups (EPP-ED, PES, ELDR, Green/EFA, GUE/NGL) on the situation in Liberia. It welcomes the overall peace agreement signed on 18 August in Accra and invites the signatory parties to establish, on 14 October, a transitional government that will take the country to free elections in October 2005. MEPs welcome the fact that the leaders of the various armed forces had been kept out of the transition government so that the conquest of power by force is not endorsed.
The EP nonetheless notes with concern that the multinational force, to be made up of 3,500 from 4 September, currently only has 2127 men from ECOMIL (the West African peace-keeping force), mainly in Monrovia. According to MEPs, the force is therefore unable to ensure a significant presence outside the capital. In order to remedy this situation, MEPs invite member nations to provide the staff and equipment of the multinational force and call on the other States of Western Africa to activate the deployment of troops promised, above all to guarantee the provision of humanitarian aid. The Parliament calls on all States of the region to abstain from any action likely to contribute to the instability of Liberia or at its borders with Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast. Also, it recommends that economic sanctions applied against Liberia be lifted and urges all countries to establish an embargo on the weapons intended for this country.