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Regional Peacekeeping Force – 1999

The ECOWAS Military Observer Group interposition force was deployed and by March of 1999, there were 600 ECOMOG interposition force troops in Guinea-Bissau. These ECOMOG troops were sent from Benin, the Gambia, the Niger and Togo¹ The ECOMOG troops were expected to stay at least until the holding of post-conflict elections. However, immediately after the military coup that deposed President Vieira, the ECOWAS foreign ministers had an emergency meeting on 25 May. In the meeting, the foreign ministers agreed to withdraw all ECOMOG troops, notwithstanding requests from the national unity government of Guinea-Bissau to continue their mandate.² The last ECOMOG troops were withdrawn on 7 June 1999. There were 712 ECOMOG troops drawn from Togo, The Gambia, Benin, and Niger before ECOWAS made the decision to withdraw its mission.³ Notwithstanding its initial success in maintaining peace, the withdrawal of ECOWAS troops subsequent to the 7 May military coup made the ECOWAS mandate obsolete.⁴

1. Ibid.
2. “Report pursuant to Security Council resolution 1233 (1999) relative to the situation in Guinea-Bissau,” U.N. Security Council (S/1999/741), July 1, 1999; “ECOWAS Foreign Ministers Take Decisions on Niger, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone,” BBC Monitoring Africa, May 27, 1999.
3. “Guinea-Bissau,” Keesing’s Record of Wolrd Events 45 (January 1999):42708.
4. “Report pursuant to Security Council resolution 1233 (1999) relative to the situation in Guinea-Bissau.”