Washington, DC — West African defence chiefs meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, have agreed the deployment of a regional peace-keeping force in Cote d'Ivoire.
The Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), General Cheikh Diarra, who chaired the meeting, told the BBC that an initial 1,264 troops would be deployed, drawn from the armies of Ghana, Senegal, Togo, Niger and Benin.
An advance team will arrive by the end of next week (November 15), he said, to be followed by others shortly afterwards.
Ecowas foreign ministers agreed late in October to send a 2,000-strong military force, headed by Senegal, to monitor the ceasefire in Cote dIvoire.
The West African contingent will replace the French troops who are currently acting as a buffer between rebels of the Patriotic Movement of Cote dIvoire (MPCI) and government troops in Cote d'Ivoire.
The French military presence has been the target of hostile demonstrations by Ivorians who mistrust the role that the former colonial power has been playing since the conflict broke out in September.
No final decision has been taken on who will command the West African forces, but Diarra said the principle was established at the Abuja meeting that the country supplying the largest number of troops would take overall command.
Ecowas executive secretary, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, told reporters on October 25 in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire's commercial capital, that "the largest number of troops will come from Senegal."
Diarra said a number of donors had agreed to fund the force; Britain will cover the cost of the Ghanaian contingent, while France will fund up to 600 of the troops. Germany, Canada and the Netherlands will provide additional support.
Asked about the recent comment by Nigeria's foreign affairs minister that Nigeria would not contribute troops to the force, Diarra said he was unaware of that statement and added that he and others could not imagine the force without Nigerian participation.
"We hope Nigeria will agree to be part of the mission, we don't see the mission without Nigeria," he said.
