POLITICS-LIBERIA: Panic, as Rebels Advance Near the Capital

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Ken Kou

MONROVIA, Jun 7 2003 (IPS) - Rebels have entered the western suburbs of the capital Monrovia, as President Charles Taylor, who has been indicted by a U.N.-backed Special Court for war crimes, struggles to hold on to power.

Monrovia, with a population of more than one million, has since Wednesday been thrown into confusion, as the main rebel movement – Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) – is reported to be within less than eight kilometres from the city centre.

The rebels are demanding that Taylor steps down.

The fighting has thrown Monrovia in a state of chaos. Thousands of people, fearing that they would be caught in the fighting, have fled to the city centre.

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 Wednesday.

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, on Wednesday. But Ghanaian authorities claimed they were not officially informed. Taylor was flown back to Liberia the same day 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 Wednesday 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 had been indicted since March together with Sierra Leone’s warlords Foday Sankoh and Issa Sesay of the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and Sam Hinga Norman of the pro-government militia, known as "Kamajors".

But his indictment was not immediately made public, as the court was waiting for "an opportunity when Mr. Taylor would travel out of the country".

After the news of Taylor’s indictment filtered through, motorists struggled to get on their right of way, while the pedestrians trekked in various directions for fear of their lives.

The stampede lasted over one hour after which Taylor – in an impromptu address from Ghana where he was attending the opening ceremonies of the Liberian peace talks – called a local radio station in Monrovia to calm the situation.

He dismissed the notion of his arrest, saying "all was well with me and my entourage", and that he would return home in few hours.

Then his top security commander, Gen. Benjamin Yeaten, came on the air to appeal for calm – ordering security forces to remain law abiding. He said Taylor, the commander-in-chief of the army, had instructed that they remain off the streets to allow the police maintain law and order pending his return.

Thousands of residents were glued to their radios as news of Taylor’s indictment continued to unfold in Ghana.

The timing of the indictment took many by surprise. They believe that it was designed to undermine the Liberian peace process.

Delegates 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 Liberia’s 15 regions.

The opening ceremony of the peace talks was delayed for several hours because heads of state, including Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Laurent Gbabo of Cote d’Ivoire, were meeting with President John Kofou of Ghana. The indictment was the focus of their meeting, journalists said.

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.

With the indictment of President Taylor, the number of those now charged for war crimes has risen to ten. One of them, former Sierra Leone junta leader Johnny Paul Koroma, is on the run, and a former RUF Commander Sam Bockarie, alias "Mosquito" is believed to be dead. Both have indictments served on them.

Taylor, born to Americo-Liberian parents, studied in the United States. He returned home shortly after Sergeant Samuel Doe seized power in 1980. He was immediately appointed to run the General Services Agency, a position that meant controlling much of Liberia’s budget. Doe accused him of embezzling 900,000 U.S. dollars and fled back to the United States. He ended up in prison in Massachusetts, Boston, detained under a Liberian extradition warrant.

Under mysterious circumstances, Taylor, who denied the charges, escaped and flew to Cote d’Ivoire from where he launched his 1989-1997 bush war. His indictment comes at a time when his government is under tremendous pressure from disparate rebel forces fighting to oust him. Whether Taylor would be arrested and transferred to the court in Freetown, Sierra Leone, is yet to be seen.

But 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.

Liberia’s Roman Catholic Arch-Bishop Michael Francis hopes the talks in Ghana will be the last one. "Liberians are fed up with conferences that often turn out to be meaningless," he says.

Liberia, founded by freed American slaves in 1847, has had 13 peace conferences, which brought chaos and death, as they were not built around complete disbarment and demobilisation of warring factions.