Weapons destruction underway

A symbolic burning of some 1,500 small arms has started at the Barclay Training Centre (BTC) military barracks in Monrovia amid parades and military bands, the BBC reported on Monday. The 1,500 weapons were cut up, placed in a huge metal basket and incinerated in front of thousands of spectators at the BTC parade ground. The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative to Liberia, Felix Downes-Thomas, told the BBC that the event, was a contribution to the reduction of arms in the sub-region. He also said the action helped to "lift the veil of suspicion on what Liberia could or.might have done with the weapons". The burning of the weapons, surrendered by former warring factions to the United Nations and the ECOWAS Peace Monitoring Group, ECOMOG, at the end of the seven-year Liberian civil war, took place with a number of West African leaders present. These included presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone and Alpha Konare of Mali. Three former commanders of ECOMOG were also present as well as UN officials, including the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Kingsley Amoako. The destruction of the weapons, supervised by the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is part of activities marking Liberia's independence anniversary. It also symbolising the end of armed conflict in Liberia, Star Radio said. Meanwhile, the bulk of the weapons collected after the war, some 30 containers holding thousands of guns and millions of rounds of ammunition, are being destroyed in a disused iron-ore mine near Tubmanburg, some 50 km north of Monrovia in Bomi County. Outgoing ECOMOG force commander Major General Felix Mujakperuo, told the BBC that the arms destruction was "a mess" and behind schedule. He said it was supposed to have been completed on Monday. He warned that with the impending departure of his forces from Liberia this week, there was a chance that undestroyed weapons could be seized by armed groups. According the BBC, the arms destruction will continue in the next few days.