Liberian caretaker leader in Ghana for peace talks

Liberia's caretaker president Mr Moses Blah arrived in Guinea today to meet the main backer of his country's biggest rebel group…

Liberia's caretaker president Mr Moses Blah arrived in Guinea today to meet the main backer of his country's biggest rebel group.

Mr Blah was due to meet Guinea's President Lansana Conte, named in a United Nations report as the biggest supporter of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), larger of two rebel factions holding at least three-quarters of Liberia.

LURD fighters had been given shelter, ammunition and weapons in Guinean barracks, the report said, and Mr Conte's troops have shelled Liberia in the past.

Mr Blah, who took over the presidency when Mr Charles Taylor quit under international pressure earlier this month, is due to hand power to a successor in October under a peace deal signed this week between his government and the two rebel groups.

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Many regional analysts say a lasting solution to Liberia's cyclical violence can only come about with the goodwill of all parties in West Africa linked to the conflict. Peace in Liberia is seen as vital to end decades of brutal intermeshed wars in West Africa.

The European Union called in a statement today for all Liberia's neighbours to "desist from any action that might encourage a resumption of tensions or of violent confrontation".

Liberia's bloodshed started with a civil war triggered by Mr Taylor in 1989 and has spread chaos throughout the region, spilling into Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Guinea.

Liberia has accused Ivory Coast's President Laurent Gbagbo of backing a second rebel faction, known as Model, and Sierra Leone of sending supplies to LURD. Mr Taylor, now exiled in regional powerhouse Nigeria, was in turn accused of meddling in wars in neighbouring countries.