Renewed clashes deal serious blow to Liberian ceasefire

FIGHTING roared towards Liberia’s capital yesterday in a serious blow to last week’s ceasefire and hopes of a negotiated end to West Africa’s deadliest conflict.

Aid workers and military sources said rebels Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy attacked President Charles Taylor’s forces near Plumkor village, barely 20 km from the fringes of the coastal city of Monrovia.

Well over 300 people were killed in fighting in the suburbs before rebels were driven out and the truce signed.

Both sides have accused each other of repeated truce violations while negotiations have stalled over very different interpretations of a deal that was meant to reach a complete peace agreement within 30 days.

LURD said in a statement its men had launched what it called a “coherent defensive” action to maintain pre-ceasefire positions. Military sources said the rebels appeared to have taken the key junction of Klay before advancing on Plumkor.

“The shelling was so heavy that many people have started fleeing the area and our vehicles that were going to the area had to return,” said a worker with one international aid agency who did not want to be named.

Hopes had been high for Liberia’s ceasefire, but expectations were more limited among a terrified people well aware that more than a dozen deals were signed and broken during civil war that left 200,000 dead in the 1990s.

Founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century, Liberia has known little but killing and chaos for the past 14 years.

Its war has sent savage offshoots into neighbouring Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast.

“I heard that the rebels are very well-equipped and my fear now is that they could enter Monrovia again,” said Emmanuel Kanneh, rushing to the bank to get out his savings.

Two rebel factions controlling 60% of the country are determined to get rid of Taylor, a former warlord who won 1997 elections and has been indicted by a UN-backed court for war crimes in Sierra Leone.

Under last week’s ceasefire deal, the rebels, Taylor’s people and opposition politicians, were to come up with an overall agreement and discuss forming a transition government without the president.

The rebels say that means he must step down soon, but Taylor has said he will not leave before the end of his elected mandate in January and will contest future elections if he wants to.

The rebels include many of Taylor’s enemies from the earlier war, a vicious struggle that exacerbated tribal divisions.

West African mediators have warned that the talks hang by a thread.