US playing waiting game
2003-07-27 16:52
Washington - US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz reiterated on Sunday that the US expeditionary force being assembled off Liberia would not go into the country until there is a ceasefire and embattled Liberian President Charles Taylor leaves power.
"They are going in when there is a ceasefire, when Charles Taylor ... has left," he told Fox News television.
Wolfowitz dismissed suggestions that by not moving troops quickly into the war-torn west African country, the United States was responsible for the continuing bloodshed.
"It is very important, if we are going to succeed in dealing with a large number of unstable places in the world that countries of the region - in this case, Nigeria, Ghana,
Senegal - who have the capability and have expressed the will to do this job be in the lead and that the UN be in the lead in dealing with the complex political problems of Liberia," he said.
On Friday, President George W Bush ordered the deployment of an amphibious task force off the coast of Liberia, amid a worsening humanitarian situation, to support the deployment of African peacekeepers.
The regional Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has pledged a 3 000-strong peacekeeping force, but has not set a date for its deployment.
"We need to be sure that we set up a situation where the United Nations does its responsibilities, where the West African states do their responsibilities, where, if we assist, we are assisting in a situation that's on the road to a solution," Wolfowitz said.
Earlier on Sunday, US Ambassador to Liberia John Blaney said Taylor had agreed to a ceasefire and a US proposal to make the Po river in Monrovia serve as a buffer between his forces and rebels.
Blaney said Washington was in talks with the leadership of the main Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) rebel group fighting with government troops in the war-devastated capital to agree to the plan.
- AFX