POLITICS-LIBERIA: Foreigners Evacuated to French Warship

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Ken Kou

MONROVIA, Jun 9 2003 (IPS) - Between 500 and 800 foreigners were evacuated from Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, on Monday, as rebels seeking to overthrow President Charles Taylor resumed their fire-fight, according to diplomats.

The foreigners, mostly Europeans and Americans, were airlifted out of Monrovia by helicopters to a French warship.

They include the Ethiopia national soccer team which found itself trapped in the beleaguered Liberian capital, which is surrounded by rebel forces. They are expected to arrive in neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire on Tuesday.

The fighting resumed less than a day after the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) announced a 72-hour ceasefire on Sunday to avoid a "blood-bath" in Monrovia and allow Taylor to resign.

The demand to resign was rejected by Taylor. And, as heavily armed French troops finished airlifting the foreigners, the LURD resumed their attacks on Monrovia.

"The situation is deteriorating very fast. There is a lot of gunfire coming from the west and south of the city," said a diplomat contacted by IPS on Monday.

The rebels were on Monday reported to be less than four kilometers from the city centre.

Monrovia, with a population of more than a million people, has been thrown in a state of chaos since last week.

The chaos heightened after the United States on Friday ordered its non-essential diplomats to leave Liberia. The order came just less than two weeks after the U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory urging U.S. citizens to leave its former colony.

The city has been in disarray since the UN-backed Special Court for war crimes, which is investigating the Sierra Leone conflict, issued a warrant for the arrest of President Taylor on Jun. 4.

The court attempted to have Taylor, who seized power in 1997 after eight years of a bloody civil war, arrested and extradited from Ghana, where he was attending peace talks, last week. But Ghanaian authorities claimed they were not officially informed. Taylor was flown back to Liberia on Jun. 4 on board a Ghanaian official aircraft and was received by crowds of enthusiastic supporters in Monrovia.

"We are waiting for an opportunity when Mr. Taylor would travel out of the country since he would not willingly extradite himself from Liberia," said Robin Vincent, the court’s registrar.

David Crane, the court’s prosecutor, told journalists on Jun. 4 that Taylor, 55, is now a "wanted war criminal". He has been charged for his alleged role in the brutal 10-year-long civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone, which ended in 2002.

"I am appealing to the international community to help in arresting and turning over Charles Taylor who has been indicted for war crimes," Crane added.

Taylor is accused of "bearing the greatest responsibility of crimes against humanity and violation of international laws". He has since challenged claims by the United Nations that he is the principal backer of the former Revolutionary United Front rebels that began the war in Sierra Leone in 1991.

The RUF commanders are alleged to have received financial support, military training, personnel, arms and ammunition from Taylor.

The timing of the indictment took many by surprise. They believe that it was designed to undermine the Liberian peace talks, which has been postponed to Wednesday.

The delegates in Ghana are expected to consider securing cease-fire between the fighting forces, deployment of an international and disarmament of the warring factions.

The questions of government and postponement of the October elections are additional concerns to be addressed at the talks.

The talks were principally between President Taylor and rebels of the Liberia United for Reconciliation and Democracy. It is the first high-level meeting between the two sides.

The latest fighting in Liberia’s long history of conflicts began in 1999 when the LURD accused Taylor of dictatorship and launched a rebellion in the north which has spread to 11 of the country’s 15 regions.

The fighting has affected half the country’s estimated three million people, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Liberia also hosts around 17,000 Sierra Leone refugees, at least 38,000 Ivorian refugees and nearly 44,000 returning Liberians who fled conflict in neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire. These too have been endangered by the fighting.

"Right now, some 400,000 to 600,000 people are without shelter in Monrovia," said an aid worker in Monrovia. "The situation is bad."