Liberia capital 'weapons free' for Tuesday inauguration - UN mission13 October – The commander of United Nations troops in Liberia has thanked government and rebel leaders for making the capital Monrovia a weapons free zone, according to a press statement from the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
The statement, released in Monrovia yesterday, said UNMIL Force Commander Lt. Gen. Daniel I. Opande made the remarks in a meeting on Saturday to discuss security arrangements for tomorrow's inauguration of a National Transitional Government of Liberia.
The statement said General Opande, "expressed gratitude to the Government of Liberia and to the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) for their cooperation in making Monrovia, Bushrod Island and Paynesville a weapons-free zone. He appealed to the parties to continue to cooperate in this endeavour and to ensure that displaced persons camps were also free of weapons." Bushrod is considered part of Monrovia and Paynesville is a suburb.
According to UNMIL, "The parties to the conflict agreed that there had been no significant violations of the ceasefire" since last Monday's meeting of the joint monitoring committee made up of government officials and representatives of rebel groups.
"General Opande informed the parties that UNMIL forces would continue to search for weapons in the areas identified," the statement said. "Weapons collected are being held under lock and key in containers provided by UNMIL."
In New York, a UN spokesman said that Jacques Paul Klein, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General led a military parade through Monrovia and neighbouring suburbs to mark the eve of the inauguration. The march included peacekeepers from Bangladesh, Ghana and Nigeria.
The spokesman also said that Charles Gyude Bryant, the chairman-elect of the National Transitional Government, was expected to arrive later today from Ghana.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
