From Africa Recovery, Vol.17 #2 (July 2003), page 5

Demands mount for Liberian peace

Country is at "epicentre" of regional instability

By John Nyamu

Reflecting the impossible predicament facing many people in West Africa, Liberia today provides precarious refuge to thousands of people who have sought to flee conflict in their homelands -- at the same time that hundreds of thousands of Liberians are running in the opposite direction to escape civil war in their own country, the second in just over a decade.

"Liberia remains the epicentre of the continuing endemic instability which is gravely affecting the political, humanitarian and security landscape not only in the Mano River Union subregion [Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone], but also throughout much of West Africa," said UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in a 2 June report to the UN Security Council.

With calls increasing for an international peacekeeping force in Liberia, Mr. Annan proposed to the Security Council that one of its permanent members lead such a force. "There are lots of expectations that the US may be prepared to lead this force," the Secretary-General said.

Similarly, Mr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, secretary-general of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), said a force is needed to separate the warring sides in Liberia. "We can provide the manpower, but we need material support and participation of some of the members of the Security Council, especially the United States of America."

Those pressing the US to step in have repeatedly stressed the country's longstanding ties with Liberia, going back to the latter's founding by freed US slaves repatriated to Africa in 1847. The US government has indicated it is considering options for possible involvement.

'At the heart'

Reiterating that Liberia is "at the heart" of West Africa's turmoil, Mr. Ali Mukhtar Farah, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the country, told Africa Recovery in May that unless the situation there is brought under control, peace and reconciliation efforts in Sierra Leone also may be in jeopardy. Liberian President Charles Taylor is widely blamed for much of the turmoil in West Africa during the last decade, including rebellions in Sierra Leone and Guinea and most recently in Côte d'Ivoire. Liberia's newest exports are young fighters eager to take part in any regional conflict offering the possibility of payment.

Photo : ©UNICEF / 95-0205 / Giacomo Pirozzi

Mr. Taylor in turn accuses neighbouring countries' governments of supporting the rebel groups Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). A panel of experts established by the UN Security Council has documented Guinean support for LURD, including the use of its territory as a supply route for arms and supplies, apparently in retaliation for Liberian backing for Guinean anti-government groups. The panel also found evidence that the Ivorian government is backing MODEL.

These Liberian rebel groups renewed their offensive in early June, soon after peace talks in Ghana broke down. Around the same time, a UN-backed special court for Sierra Leone indicted Mr. Taylor on charges of crimes against humanity arising from his alleged support for the brutal insurgency in that country during the 1990s.

'The dollar and the diamond'

Another aspect of the conflict is the recruitment of child soldiers, particularly from camps housing refugees and internally displaced persons. The youths are often recruited by force or enticed with the promise of loot.

Besides government and rebel forces, armed groups of mercenaries roam the subregion in search of booty, according to Mr. Farah. They operate across national borders and have no particular political agenda. "They are after the dollar and the diamond," he said, referring to the diamond fields of Sierra Leone, control of which enabled that country's main rebel group to wage war.

The fighting in Liberia has made it harder for humanitarian agencies to help many of the civilian victims, Mr. Farah said, but they still have access to more than 200,000 displaced Liberians, 60 per cent of them around Monrovia, the capital. There are also about 95,000 Ivorian refugees as well as nationals from Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria and Ghana who fled the conflict in Côte d'Ivoire. Both government troops and rebels have targeted humanitarian supplies and aid workers. "Everything is on hold until the government provides security," Mr. Farah added.

The external and domestic pressures on Mr. Taylor's government are mounting. In March 2001 the UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo and travel sanctions. Earlier this year, it renewed the restrictions and extended them to include sales of timber, one of the country's key exports.

US President George W. Bush has called on Mr. Taylor to step down. But many have expressed uncertainties that the Liberian leader's removal from office, by itself, would necessarily bring peace. The rebel forces have shown little evidence of a political programme beyond ousting the president, and equally little regard for civilians during their intense bombardment of Monrovia's suburbs.

The residents of Monrovia also have been increasingly clamouring for peace. On 27 June, hundreds of anti-war demonstrators blocked President Taylor's motorcade. That same day, a crowd rallied outside the US embassy, calling for an international peacekeeping mission and shouting, "We want peace!"

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