Sporadic fighting reported

Sporadic fighting was reported this week in various parts of Liberia although a diplomatic source in the capital, Monrovia, told IRIN on Friday that it was not "very intense".

"There is a lot going on in the country and the situation is quite fluid, however, in the past two days there seems to have been a lull," the source said, warning, however, that the "quiet" could be deceptive. "From what we've gathered, the rebels' strategy is to close in on the capital, Monrovia, albeit slowly. We have heard of reports that top government officials have been evacuating some of their family members," he added. "This points to us that possibly the worst is yet to come. The situation is quite worrying."

The rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Development (LURD), which has been fighting to topple the government of President Charles Taylor since 1998, has in recent months stepped up its attacks in various parts of the country.

In a news release on Thursday, the group announced that it was in control of Lofa County in the northwest, Gbarpolu County, which is immediately south of Lofa, the western country of Bomi and key areas in central Liberia.

LURD warned its men would "vehemently defend" areas under its control and would retaliate should they come under attack from pro-government troops. It said it was prepared to dialogue with any Liberians, except Charles Taylor, whom it described as the sole problem of the region.

The war in Liberia has caused the displacement of thousands and fear of heightened insecurity in neighbouring countries. Humanitarian organisations have put the number of registered internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Liberia at over 110,000. An assessment conducted recently in the Liberian border area of Ganta by a team of UN and NGO officials, found more than 21,000 people displaced by the fighting.

Key findings indicated overcrowding in the schools accommodating the IDPs, lack of medicines and medical supplies, inadequate water and sanitation facilities, lack of food and need for protection of the IDPs and local residents, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

Many other Liberians have fled to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire.

On Thursday, the force commander of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone, Lt-Gen Daniel Opande, appealed to the Liberian government to monitor its side of the border to prevent cross-border attacks against Sierra Leonean villages.

During a tour of border areas, Opande met with Liberian refugees who told him Liberian troops were demanding money before allowing people to cross over into Sierra Leone.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), an average of slightly more than 100 refugees are crossing the border from Liberia into Sierra Leone daily.

The agency expressed extreme concern on Tuesday about the security of thousands of Sierra Leonean refugees in camps situated near battle lines in Liberia. As a result of the fighting, UNHCR was unable to access Sinje camps, near Liberia's border with Sierra Leone, for more than two weeks and was only able to establish regular radio contact with refugee leaders there.

In another development, a Catholic priest, who went missing two weeks ago along with 60 blind people in Tubmanburg, western Liberia, was set free on Wednesday. The priest, Father Garry Jenkins, was released by the LURD rebels and handed over to the Apostolic Nuncio, the Vatican's embassy, in Conakry, the capital of neighbouring Guinea. He was freed after a team of Liberian Christian and Muslim leaders travelled to Guinea and negotiated his release with the rebels. However, the fate of the 60 blind people remained unknown.