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| Africa: West | |
| Liberia Prepares for Wary Peacekeepers | |
| 2003-08-04 | |
| People in Liberia’s besieged capital readied to welcome the first peacekeepers Monday, but the commander of the West African force tempered expectations by saying that the first contingent would only secure the airport outside the bloodied city. Can anyone say, "Beirut"? Residents bought white T-shirts and gathered white cloths to wave — the most festive greeting Monrovia’s people could offer for Monday’s promised deployment after two months of rebel sieges that sparked fighting that killed more than 1,000 people in the city of more than 1.3 million and nearly cut off food and clean water. The first troops were expected Monday in helicopters, from bases in neighboring Sierra Leone. Nigerian Brig. Gen. Festus Okonkwo, the future force’s commander, said planners weren’t sure how many troops they could get in on Monday, or whether there were enough aircraft overall. ``We are going in with as much troops as possible,’’ Okonkwo told reporters late Sunday in Sierra Leone. ``We know that the situation is bad in and around Monrovia.’’ The first forces would only secure the now government-held airport, Okonkwo said. The airport is about a 45-minute drive on a government-held road from the capital, where fighting has raged daily between President Charles Taylor’s fighters and rebels battling to overthrow him. Chuckles won’t be able to flee by air unless the peacekeepers let him. Noose gettin’ a little uncomfortable, Charlie? Okonkwo said he expected no attacks upon Monday’s deployment, and said he had called upon both sides to tell them to return to their positions at the time they signed a June 17 cease-fire that has been repeatedly broken. About 300 Nigerian troops were to be deployed Monday, but it was unclear whether the West Africans would be able to get that many troops on the ground the first day. They are to be the vanguard of a 3,250-member West African force. On Sunday, a small West African assessment team laying the groundwork for the peacekeepers was gathering generators, food and fuel. Some of the goods were provided by U.S. suppliers through an already-announced US$10 million U.S. support contract for the mission, said Col. Theophilus Tawiah of Ghana, the force’s chief of staff. Debt-strapped Nigeria says it needs far more international backing for the mission, expected to eventually cost at least US$2 million daily.
We have something else in mind for the ultimate sacrifice. ``No one should ask him to do more than that,’’ Goodrich insisted. Really? Come to Rantburg for a while. The United States has demanded the departure of Taylor, Or when the rebels plug him. U.N. prosecutors are adamant that Taylor face justice, heightening prospects of a standoff with the international peacekeepers and foreign powers. Funny how it looks like that’s exactly what GWB wants. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #14 But then his first name was Porcius... |
| Posted by: SPQR 2755 2003-8-4 6:16:39 PM |
| #13 Something like that. But I think Nero would handle this Liberia thing a little differently. |
| Posted by: SPQR 2755 2003-8-4 6:15:58 PM |
| #12 Something like that. But I think Nero would handle this Liberia thing a little differently. |
| Posted by: SPQR 2755 2003-8-4 6:15:56 PM |
| #11 So Festus appealed to Matthew? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-8-4 4:29:14 PM |
| #10 Festus is an old and respectable Roman name! Porcius Festus, Roman Procurator of Judaea, 59-62 A.D. "But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, "Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem, and there be tried on these charges before me?" But Paul said, "I am standing before Caesar's tribunal, where I ought to be tried; to the Jews I have done no wrong, as you know very well. If then I am a wrongdoer, and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death; but if there is nothing in their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar." Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, "You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go." -Acts 25:9-12 |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2003-8-4 3:22:03 PM |
| #9 Festus is an old and respectable Roman name! |
| Posted by: SPQR 2755 2003-8-4 2:05:58 PM |
| #8 Is the Spriggs Payne airfield out of commission? If not, Taylor might still get out that way--it isn't far from his home. |
| Posted by: James 2003-8-4 10:44:32 AM |
| #7 Nigerian Field Marshall Dillon? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-8-4 10:25:10 AM |
| #6 Festus? Was he ridin' a mule? |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-8-4 10:02:42 AM |
| #5 Chuck lol..... The name Taylor rings a bell. Perhaps Ernest T. Doe can be sent to stone him out of the country. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-8-4 9:42:36 AM |
| #4 dare i say that africans are solving african problems? Well, assuming they solve it. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-8-4 9:05:01 AM |
| #3 Shipman, his aide de camp is Captain Goober Lionoko. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-8-4 9:01:31 AM |
| #2 Nigerian Brig. Gen. Festus Okonkwo, the future force’s commander, American cultural imperialism at work? Glad his folks didn't watch the Andy Griffin show. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-8-4 8:21:34 AM |
| #1 Beirut, you mean the game with beer and pong... |
| Posted by: Brian 2003-8-4 1:37:08 AM |