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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
LIBERIA: Violence flares in Buchanan while UN voices concern over disarmament
MONROVIA, 22 Mar 2004 (IRIN) -
LIBERIA: Violence in Buchanan as UN warns of disarmament delays
Violence erupted on Saturday afternoon in Liberia's second city, Buchanan, about 120 kilometers southeast of the capital, Monrovia. According to reports from Buchanan, fighters from the rebel Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) ran amok, looting properties and harassing civilians. One civilian was later confirmed dead.
Witnesses who fled the area and later contacted IRIN talked of MODEL fighters letting of weapons at random intervals, causing civilian casualties.
A civilian who talked with IRIN by phone from Buchanan said he had seen wounded civilians being taken to the nearest health centres. There was no clear account of why or how the violence started. One witness said simply: "we just decided to pack up and leave because the area was tense and the fighting was too heavy".
Reacting to the situation, the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), Lieutenant-General Daniel Opande, confirmed the violence in Buchanan in a radio address on Sunday. Opande said the problems had started when a MODEL combatant had tried to wrest food away from a civilian and had then beaten the civilian after he resisted.
"The civilian population gathered around and of course they decided to retaliate", Opande said. "Within a very short time our troops were on the scene. They rescued the civilian who was badly beaten and they took him to the hospital"
Opande said the situation had subsequently developed into a free-for-all, "with various MODEL fighters attacking civilians".
Opande confirmed that one civilian had subsequently died from his injuries. He said shops in Buchanan had been looted.
But the UN Force Commander stressed UNMIL troops had regained control of the situation, sending in more soldiers and deploying gun-ships from Monrovia. "Although the city is calm, it is still tense", Opande acknowledged. "But our forces are in full control, so I don't foresee any major escalation of violence".
Model spokesman Boi Blajue Boi regretted the incidents and promised his movement was in contact with UNMIL to calm the situation.
Recent reports from Buchanan have highlighted civilian concerns about the number of ex-combatants, particularly MODEL fighters, still holding arms and their use of bullying tactics against civilians.
In an interview with IRIN prior to Saturday's events, Lieutenant-General Opande expressed concern about delays in the disarmament process.
According to a disarmament scheme officially launched in December, some 40,000 fighters in Liberia are meant to be paid for giving up their arms and returning to civilian life.
But General Opande said that none of the pre-conditions for a resumption of the disarmament process in Liberia have been fully met.
"Before disarmament, there has to be construction of cantonment and disarmament sites as well as the guaranteeing of security in these sites and the entire country as a whole," General Opande said.
Opande explained there were four cantonment sites under construction but none
were yet completed, adding, "they are in different states of being completed; some are closer but others are far away".
Opande said none of the belligerent parties had complied with UNMIL in making available the lists of their combatants and weaponry as required before the process begins.
But Opande noted that while "none of these conditions have been fully met. they are in various stages of being met" He stressed that disarmament was not simply down to the UN.
"What you should also understand is that beginning the process does not lie with me. It has to be collective. I mean the transitional government, the warring parties have to play their part".
"I am concerned about the delay, but we have to start on a very good or right footing", Opande added. "If we start on a wrong footing, we will have problem as it was in last December. But you should understand that you cannot put the blame on me as the force commander because I have no control over it.
The disarmament scheme was quickly suspended in December after fighters loyal to President Charles Taylor, now in exile in Nigeria, rioted in the capital Monrovia over the amount of money they were supposed to receive for their guns.
No clear date has been set for the scheme to resume. UN officials have said that the programme will resume when the U.N. force reaches its full strength of 15,000, which was expected to occur around the end of March.
But General Opande stressed that he was about to lose some troops on the ground.
"Up to today, I only have 13,759 men and women, but before the end of this month and early April, I'm going to lose some troops, about 800 men from the Bangladesh contingent," he said.
The Bangladeshis have taken up high profile positions in Buchanan. They occupy the former residence of President Charles Taylor, now in exile in Nigeria, and they control the nearby airstrip.
Some of them have been recently deployed around Ganta, in the Nimba county close to the border with Guinea, 247 km north of Monrovia.
The deployment is due to be completed by the 26th of March in the Nimba area, meaning that the peacekeepers are now present in ten out of fifteen counties of Liberia, Opande said.
But he warned that the 800 Bangladeshis had come from Sierra Leone originally "and have now completed their duties".
"It is not easy to get the troops on the ground," General Opande said. "UN member countries promised troops but they do not live up to their commitment. For example, Morocco
has promised troops but they are no longer coming"
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004
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