US embassy cable - 03ABUJA1332

UNCLAS ABUJA 001332 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, MOPS, LI, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: CHAMBAS BRIEFING ON LIBERIA 
 
 
 1. On August 6, ECOWAS ExecSec Chambas briefed the 
diplomatic corps on the developments in the deployment of 
ECOMIL forces.  Chambas informed the group that an open 
account had been established with ECOBANK in Accra, and that 
the account number would be circulated shortly.  Paralleling 
ECOMICI, Chambas also indicated that a request would be made 
to the U.S. and U.K. to provide one staff member each who are 
experts in accounting for military operations.  He 
acknowledged the USD 10 million that the U.S. had already 
distributed to the contractor PAE for lift and other 
services.  Septel follows on Chambas, meeting with Charge. 
 
 
2. Chambas stated that all political issues regarding the 
governmental transition in Liberia had been resolved, except 
for naming the President and Vice President.  He claimed that 
all sides had agreed to the proposal that no member of the 
belligerents would be allowed to take either of these 
positions.  A complete transition to a new elected government 
is expected to take 18-24 months. 
 
 
3. Chambas stated that NIBATT 1 would complete its deployment 
by Saturday August 9, and NIBATT 2 would finish early next 
week.  The third (Ghana, Mali and Senegal) and fourth 
(Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Togo and Benin) battalions would be 
completely deployed by the end of August.  The maximum number 
of troops to be deployed is 3250. (COMMENT: This number 
appears to be a moving target, and Chambas mentioned 2400 as 
the target to Charge earlier in the week. END COMMENT) 
LIBERI