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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| Fighting Rages Again Toward Liberia’s Capital |
| 2003-06-24 |
| Fighting roared toward Liberia's capital Tuesday in a serious blow to last week's cease-fire 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 (13 miles) from the fringes of the coastal city of Monrovia. Resupply completed. 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-cease-fire 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. "Run away!" Hopes had been high for Liberia's cease-fire, 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. Under last week's cease-fire 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. Nobody seems to have asked Chuck. 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. West African mediators have warned that the talks hang by a thread. Regional cease-fire monitors were due to arrive in Liberia last weekend, but they are still waiting for the factions to tell them exactly where frontline positions are. Too late. |
| Posted by:Steve |