ECOWAS calls for 'comprehensive' disarmament program in Liberia Dakar PANA (Internet Version-WWW) in English 16 Aug 03 Saturday, August 16, 2003 Journal Code: 775 Language: ENGLISH Record Type: FULLTEXT Document Type: Daily Report; News Word Count: 478 ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohamed Ibn Chambas has stressed the need for a comprehensive disarmament programme in Liberia as part of ongoing peace process, in order to rid the country of arms that have contributed to instability in the sub-region. Exchanging views in Accra, Ghana, with A. Shashank, Secretary for Europe, Asia and Africa in the Indian Foreign Ministry, Chambas said Friday that 50% of small arms in the West African sub-region were in Liberia, while 90% of the irregular armed groups operating in the sub-region could also be traced to the country. "Because of the sub-regional implications of these arms, disarmament must therefore be effective," an ECOWAS release quoted him to have told the Indian official. Chambas said ECOWAS would work closely with the UN and the international community to address this problem. He said ECOWAS had called for voluntary disarmament as part of this process and expressed the hope that the problem of the proliferation of arms would be solved during the two-year tenure of the transitional government being negotiated at the ongoing ECOWAS-brokered Accra peace talks. The ECOWAS chief said the transitional government would be installed by 14 October, the day that elections would have been held under the Liberian Constitution. To address the humanitarian, economic and security needs of the country, the Executive Secretary said a donors' conference on Liberia would be held to apprise the international community of deficiencies in these areas to enable it provide appropriate support. He also said that India could assist the peace process in various ways including the training of security personnel, since Liberia's entire security apparatus is envisaged for dissolution under the peace process. Chambas said India could help promote peace and security in the region by supporting the military training institutions in Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria to improve their capacity to provide the envisaged tactical, operational and strategic training. Earlier, Shashank said India's High Commissioner in Nigeria would be accredited to the ECOWAS Secretariat in Abuja to facilitate dialogue and co-operation between his country and the organisation. He said India had provided a 200 million-US-dollar credit line to support the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) initiative. According to him, his country is determined to improve its relations with countries in the sub-region bilaterally and through ECOWAS in various areas, including boosting military co-operation with the sub-region to enable Member States separately and collectively meet the security needs of ECOWAS.