Africa, Headlines

POLITICS-LIBERIA: Rebels Dismiss Lifting of State of Emergency

   Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, Sep 23 2002 (IPS) - President Charles Taylor’s decision to lift a state of emergency has been dismissed by rebels as another ploy by the Liberian leader to hang on to power.

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Taylor slammed the state of emergency on the strife-torn West African country earlier this year when the rebels, seeking to overthrow his government, were closing in on the capital Monrovia.

‘’We consider the lifting of the state of emergency as timely because of the progress made so far (by the government) in prosecuting the war,” said a statement released in Monrovia late last week.

During the course of the emergency, gross rights abuses were reportedly committed by Taylor’s elite Anti-Terrorist Unit forces against perceived collaborators with the rebels. There were murders, disappearances and detentions.

Till today, ‘’many” opponents of the regime are being held in undisclosed locations without being taken to court, including prominent journalist Hassan Bility.

And, with the lifting of the emergency laws last week, there are now calls for Taylor to open up the democratic process ahead of presidential and general elections next year. The prevailing circumstances leading up to the elections themselves are far from being conducive, as majority of Liberia’s opposition politicians are living in exiles in fear of their lives.

Taylor, who led one of the most brutal guerrilla forces in the region during the first phase of his country’s civil war (1989-1997), will be seeking re-election next year, after five years in office.

But his government, already cash-strapped as a result of UN-imposed sanctions, has been isolated by the war with rebels calling themselves Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). The conflict has gone on for three years with no emergent victors.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands forced into exile as refugees, in neighbouring countries. And the situation is no better at home. Salaries of public workers have reportedly not been paid for seven months and basic services like water and electricity are few and far between.

‘’Liberia is clearly a failed state as represented by Mr. Taylor’s government,’ comments opposition politician, Dennis Kromah.

The civil war in Liberia has ebbed and flowed with accusations being traded between the two sides and territory changing hands dramatically. At one point it appeared as if the LURD rebels were poised to overrun Monrovia.

LURD’s tenuous hold on key strategic towns like Gbarnga in central Liberia and Trumansburg, which is even closer to Monrovia, puts to doubt the rebel outfit’s ability to oust Taylor. The Monrovia government now clearly seems to have the upper hand in the conflict.

Two weeks ago, a national reconciliation conference was convened in Monrovia bringing together the few available opposition politicians, government officials and local activist. The LURD rebels boycotted the conference and also have dismissed Taylor’s lifting of the emergency laws.

Prominent exiled opposition leader Ellen Johnson Sir Leaf, speaking from the Ivorian capital Abidjan last week, said: ‘’The lifting of the state of emergency was a fundamental demand by the National Reconciliation conference but I only hope there are no disappearances and extra-judicial killings.”

But Harry Greaves Jr., of the opposition Liberian Action Party, has appealed to exiled politicians to return home if they are to make a desirable impact in the political process of the country.

“You cannot lead Liberians at home from Washington, Atlanta, or New York,” he was quoted as saying by ‘The News’ publication in Monrovia on Monday.

To the chagrin of Liberians, Taylor has rejected calls by regional leaders to ‘’seriously consider” the intervention of the international community in resolving Liberia’s political crisis.

‘’He is paranoid and suspects every move by international community to get involved in the crisis, as aimed at toppling his regime,” says Tom Nimleh, a civil society activist in Monrovia.

Taylor has accused Liberia’s neighbours — Guinea and Sierra Leone — of backing the insurgents. He also has accused Britain and the United States of bankrolling the conflict.

What is clear about the war is that despite UN-imposed sanctions on arms importation and the export of precious minerals like diamonds, the Taylor regime is still getting arms and ammunition through Liberia’s porous borders. And because of that it seems that the rebels may find it tough to overrun Monrovia and overthrow Taylor, himself a former rebel.

There are also allegations that former Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in Sierra Leone are helping the Liberian government in battle as mercenaries.

This has raised concern in Freetown. And, the government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah is trying hard not to get involved in the Liberian conflict so as to prevent a spill over into Sierra Leone, which is just emerging from a decade-long brutal war.