Elite troops deployed near US Embassy

Liberia said it deployed elite troops near the US Embassy in Monrovia on Wednesday in response to fears raised by the US State Department of a possible terrorist threat, news reports and diplomatic sources said on Thursday. However, Sarah Morrison, the head of the US Information Service in Monrovia, told IRIN, "we have quite a bit of security around the embassy", although she also said, "we appreciate the concern of the Liberian government." Fears of a terrorist attack had prompted Washington to close its embassies in six African countries, including Liberia, on Thursday through Saturday last week. Morrison confirmed news reports quoting Liberian National Security Adviser Tambakai Jangaba as saying his government informed the embassy before deploying the recently formed Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU) in the diplomatic quarter at Mamba Point. In September 1998, a two-day gun battle broke out outside the US Embassy in which Liberian security forces shot at supporters of former faction leader Roosevelt Johnson, who sought refuge in the embassy. The shooting soured relations between Monrovia and Washington. Jangaba said that the ATU was a component of the elite Special Security Service, or presidential guard, and had trained for 14 months "under the most exacting and state-of-the-art techniques by foreign, Western security experts". The ATU specialises in sabotage deterrence, repelling acts of terrorism on buildings, buses, aircraft, trains and inner-city locations, as well as defusing explosives. Liberia's security forces are regularly accused of harassing or brutalising civilians, public employees and judicial officials. Nevertheless, Jangaba said the ATU was well disciplined and asked for public comment on their behaviour and effectiveness. "Liberia is sincere in wanting to know how the troops behave," Morrison said, "and we will give them our honest feedback."