Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- ECOWAS military chiefs have proposed that the regional military mission in Cote d'Ivoire be increased from 1,264 to 3,411 troops. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- ECOWAS Defence Chiefs ended their fifth meeting in Accra, Ghana, Wednesday by endorsing the proposal by Force Commander, General Papa Khalilou Fall, for an increase in the size of the regional military mission in Cote d'Ivoire from 1,264 to 3,411. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- A two-day 5th Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Defence and Security Commission meeting began in Accra Tuesday with a call on subregional security officials to come up with recommendations to help solve the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) on Monday warned in a report that other currencies in ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) countries have continued to depreciate against the franc CFA. Full text...

Abuja- Nigeria (PANA) -- The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is working to bring the government and the rebel LURD together for direct talks next month in a bid to ensure that the upcoming general elections in Liberia are credible and transparent. Full text...

Abuja- Nigeria (PANA) -- ECOWAS, the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA) and the European Union (EU) Wednesday in Abuja signed agreements on economic co-operation. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema had talks Wednesday with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, but details of the meeting were not disclosed. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- UN envoy on the humanitarian situation in Cote d'Ivoire Carolyn McAskie said Thursday that the crisis in that country could cripple the economy of the entire West African subregion. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Contact Group on Cote d'Ivoire, have reaffirmed their solidarity with the Ivorian people and their readiness to continue their efforts to end the four-month-old crisis in the country. Full text...

Yamoussoukro- Côte d'Ivoire (PANA) -- West African leaders ended their meeting here Monday noting that Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo accepts "the spirit" of the Marcoussis peace accords. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The 30-31 January 26th ECOWAS ordinary Summit in Dakar, is to be preceded by an extra-ordinary meeting of leaders of Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, the five countries of the sub-region's second monetary zone. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- Heads of States of Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana and Niger arrived in Lome Monday to join their Togolese counterpart, President Gnassingbe Eyadema, at a mini-summit on the Ivorian crisis. Full text...

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- The first batch of 179 Senegalese soldiers on the ECOWAS peacekeeping force, which arrived Saturday in Cote d'Ivoire, will shortly be deployed, French military sources in Abidjan said. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- Six ECOWAS leaders will meet Monday in Lome on the Ivorian crisis, a government statement said in the Togolese capital Sunday. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- The ECOWAS brown card will be published in English, French and Portuguese in a bid to avoid problems of interpretation throughout the countries of the Economic Community of West African States, experts on the matter said. Full text...

Bissau- Guinea Bissau (PANA) -- Authorities in Guinea-Bissau have announced plans for a comprehensive campaign to sensitise citizens this year about activities of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States). Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- A contingent of 85 Togolese soldiers left Lome Friday for Cote d'Ivoire to join the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) peacekeeping force alongside soldiers from Benin, Ghana, Niger and Senegal. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Leaders of the four countries participating in the 500 million-US-dollar West African Gas Pipeline Project will sign the treaty establishing the scheme during the 26th ECOWAS Summit in Dakar at the end of January. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The installation of a defence satellite communications network for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), being handled and financed by the US, will be ready by the middle of the year, officials of the sub-regional group told PANA in Abuja Tuesday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The 26th ordinary summit of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) take place in Dakar from 30-31 January, sources told PANA in the Senegalese capital. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- An ordinary summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will be held from 30 to 31 January in the Senegalese capital of Dakar, sources at the sub-regional organisation told PANA in Lagos Monday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The African Strategic and Peace Research Group (AFSTRAG), in collaboration with ECOWAS and the Agreement on Non-Aggression and Assistance in Matters of Defence (ANAD), will convene a seminar on the harmonisation of conflict resolution mechanisms next March in Dakar. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohammed Ibn Chambas said Wednesday that although the organisation may be experiencing difficulties in deploying peace keepers to Cote d'Ivoire, it would not abandon peace efforts in the war-torn country. Full text...

Niamey- Niger (PANA) -- President Mamadou Tandja Monday addressed a group of 10 Niger army officers due to join the ECOWAS peace monitoring group in Cote d'Ivoire. Full text...

Libreville- Gabon (PANA) -- Gabonese President Omar Bongo said Friday that he was on the same wavelength with his counterparts of the Economic Community of West African Sates (ECOWAS) in the search for peace in Cote d'Ivoire. Full text...

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- Some 28 senior officers from Benin, Togo and Ghana arrived Friday in Abidjan to prepare for the arrival of ECOWAS peacekeepers next week in Cote d'Ivoire, a military sources said here. Full text...

Tema- Ghana (PANA) -- About 80 senior military officers from ECOWAS countries, 13 of them Ghanaians, would be flown by a French plane to Cote d'Ivoire on Friday, January 3 to prepare for the arrival of ECOWAS peacekeepers on 10 January. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Commander of the West African peacekeeping force for Cote d'Ivoire, Senegalese General Papa Khalilou Fall, is expected to arrive in Abidjan Sunday, ahead of the full deployment of the force 10 January, ECOWAS sources told PANA in Lagos Thursday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- The first batch of Senegalese soldiers, taking part in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) peacekeeping force in Cote d'Ivoire will leave Dakar Friday for Abidjan, military sources said here Tuesday. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The 26th ECOWAS ordinary summit may hold 16-17 January 2003 in the Senegalese capital Dakar, sources at the sub-regional organisation hinted PANA in Lagos Tuesday. Full text...

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- The arrival of the first contingent of West African peace-keeping troops in Cote d'Ivoire, initially scheduled for Tuesday, has been postponed to 3 January, sources at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said in Abidjan Tuesday. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- ECOWAS Monday named Ghanaian Colonel Robert Sackey as the Deputy Force Commander for the ECOMOG force due for deployment to Cote d'Ivoire Tuesday. Full text...

Bouake- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- Cote d'Ivoire's rebel Patriotic Movement (MPCI) Friday warned ECOWAS peacekeeping troops due for deployment to the troubled country by 31 December, against "any attempt to violate" the 17 October cease-fire agreement. Full text...

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo Tuesday in Abidjan received the ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohamed Ibn Chambas, for talks on the crisis in that country, reliable sources said. Full text...

Niamey- Niger (PANA) -- The Vice-President of the Ivorian parliament, Yvonne Bouabre Tuesday in Niamey, called on ECOWAS to step up efforts at resolving the Ivorian crisis, which she described as "a danger that threatens all the countries of the sub-region. Full text...

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- The Ivorian government has signed with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) an agreement for the deployment of the West African buffer force in Cote d'Ivoire, a source close to the Foreign ministry announced Tuesday in Abidjan. Full text...

Abuja- Nigeria (PANA) -- Defence Chiefs of ECOWAS Member States will meet in Abidjan Monday to agree on the modalities for the implementation of the decisions of the just-ended Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State in Dakar on the deployment of a peacekeeping force in Cote d'Ivoire, an official source said. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Only four West African leaders attended Wednesday's official opening in Dakar of an extraordinary summit of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) devoted to the Ivorian crisis. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Embattled Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo flew into Dakar Wednesday for the ECOWAS extra-ordinary Summit on the crisis in his country. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore and his Cape Verdean counterpart Pedro Pires have arrived in Dakar for Wednesday's extra-ordinary ECOWAS Summit on the Ivorian crisis. Full text...

Abuja- Nigeria (PANA) -- ECOWAS and the African Development Bank (ADB) Thursday in Abuja signed a loan agreement for the feasibility study of a sub-regional railway Master Plan. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- Guillaume Soro, Secretary General of Cote d'Ivoire's rebel Patriotic Movement (MPCI) announced Thursday that his organisation was leaving the peace talks in Lome, Togo, for "consultations," and accused ECOWAS and France of trying to save President Laurent Gbagbo's government. Full text...

Bissau- Guinea Bissau (PANA) -- Youth Movements and journalists from Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Mali and Ghana plan an awareness campaign in February 2003, on the dangers of the proliferation of light weapons in West Africa, a member of the organising Committee said in Bissau Tuesday. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The extra-ordinary Summit of ECOWAS leaders, slated for Accra, Ghana, Saturday to discuss the worsening situation in Cote d'Ivoire, has been postponed indefinitely, ECOWAS sources told PANA in Lagos Friday. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- Saturday's one-day Summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) scheduled for the Ghanaian capital, Accra, may not hold, reliable government sources told PANA Wednesday. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- ECOWAS leaders are to meet 7 December in Accra, Ghana, to consider the latest developments in Cote d'Ivoire and how to restore peace and security to the country, the organisation said Monday. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- The 26th ECOWAS ordinary Summit earlier scheduled for this month in Dakar, Senegal, has now been shifted to January 2003, officials of the 15-nation organisation said Sunday. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- Ivorian government envoys have said that President Laurent Gbagbo supports his Togolese counterpart Gnassingbe Eyadema's mediation efforts on the Ivorian crisis. Full text...

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- Patriotic Movement of Cote d'Ivoire (MPCI) negotiators currently holding peace talks with government representative in Lome on Tuesday demanded for a "new political order" in their troubled country. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Leaders of five-member States of the ECOWAS second monetary zone have postponed the launch of their common currency to 1 July 2005, the ECOWAS Secretariat said in a statement in Abuja Tuesday. Full text...