Global Policy Forum

New Hope for Weary Liberians

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BBC
July 31, 2003

Residents of the Liberian capital, Monrovia, have flooded onto the streets, saying fighting has died down since the arrival of 10 peacekeepers.


The BBC's Paul Welsh in the city says that roads, which have been empty during almost two weeks of intense fighting, are packed with tens of thousands of people. Our correspondent says it is a remarkable effect with so few foreign troops on the ground.

Meanwhile, the 15-strong Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has begun meeting in Ghana to discuss the "deployment of forces and how to facilitate the peace process", said Ghana's President John Kufuor. "The Liberian crisis must be solved by Africans, so Africa can show that it is able to solve its problems," he said.

The Nigerian-led military fact-finding mission arrived in Liberia on Wednesday evening. Liberians are now pleading with them to stay beyond their planned departure on Saturday. It is tasked, according to Ecowas, with working out the logistics of sending in peacekeepers and will confine itself to Monrovia.

Ecowas agreed on 4 July to send 3,000 mainly Nigerian troops to Liberia but the deployment has been hampered by continuing fighting and haggling over who will bear the cost of the mission.

Mandate for action

The United States, which has resisted calls to send troops in, has introduced a draft resolution at the United Nations that would allow the immediate deployment of an international force to Liberia. The draft resolution, which is expected to be passed without a vote, reportedly foresees:

• The immediate dispatch of peacekeepers from Ecowas and other states with a mandate to use force if necessary

• Their replacement by a full UN force by 1 October after Secretary General Kofi Annan reports to the Security Council by 15 August

• Approval for an urgent request from Mr Annan for the UN to underwrite some of the costs of the Nigerian troops due to go in first

Mr Annan said West African leaders had made it clear that they were prepared to send in troops but needed financial and logistical support, including airlifts. The US is sending its own seaborne force - now said to be at most three days from Liberia - but it has no orders to deploy on shore.

Misery

Conditions in Monrovia are said to be appalling, with increasing numbers of children facing malnourishment as food and water supplies run dangerously low.

Monrovia's main hospitals are saying that within two weeks they will have run out of medicine and fuel for generators. The senior medical officer at the city's main JFK hospital, Mohamed Sheriff, said they are receiving a huge number of patients daily and are struggling to cope.

Prices are soaring and the country's staple food, rice, is running out fast. Rebels control the capital's food stocks in the port area and have been accused by the government of looting - though they say they have simply been handing out food to the hungry.

Another rebel group captured Liberia's second city, Buchanan, earlier this week, cutting off the last remaining route for food imports to get to government-held parts of the capital. International aid groups say they can do little to help the 1.3 million people trapped in the city.

President Taylor - who also faces war crimes charges in neighbouring Sierra Leone - has agreed to quit office and accept asylum in Nigeria, but only after the arrival of peacekeepers.


More Information on Charles Taylor
More Information on Liberia

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FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.