ECOWAS chief mediator Abdul Salami Abubakar in the Liberian peace process and the foreign ministers of Ghana and Nigeria ended a visit Saturday to Liberia and praised the level of peace reached so far. Former Nigerian president Abdul Salami Abubakar told reporters Saturday that calls to extend the 40-day election campaign period were being looked into. The election guidelines set aside September 1 to October 10 as the campaign period. Abubakar said voting by internally displaced persons and returnees had been discussed with Transitional Government Chairman Gyude Bryant and the cabinet, civilian representatives and former warring party representatives. Abubakar said the United States government had agreed to train the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), but added the estimated 14,000 strong army would be disbanded before the process begins. He said about 14 million dollars were needed to pay off disbanded AFL personnel.
