Government reports recapture of two key towns

Liberian government troops who have been engaged in fierce fighting with rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) for the control of areas in western Liberia have retaken two key towns, sources said on Sunday. Defence sources in the capital, Monrovia, told IRIN that fighting was now concentrated in Gbah town on the highway that links Monrovia to the Sierra Leonean border. They said the two recaptured towns were Kley Junction, 38 km west of Monrovia, and Sasstown. Surrounding villages along the Monrovia-Kley highway, which had been under rebel control since February, had also been retaken, according to the sources, which said government troops were advancing towards rebel-held Tubmanburg, some 60 km west of Monrovia. In the southeast, many people are reported to have fled the areas of Sinoe and Maryland for the southern port town of Buchanan and Monrovia for fear of an imminent rebel advance from Grand Gedeh, on the border with Cote d'Ivoire. Some logging companies in the area had begun scaling down and evacuating employees. Zwedru, the main town in Grand Gedeh, was attacked recently by insurgents who, the Liberian government said, were based in Cote d'Ivoire. People displaced from Zwedru told IRIN a new armed group had emerged in the area and that it was composed of former supporters of late president Samuel Doe, killed in 1990 during Liberia's 1990-1997 faction war. Meanwhile, uncertainty loomed over peace talks on Liberia, sponsored by the Economic Community of West African States and scheduled for the Malian capital, Bamako, on April 10. Officials of Liberian civil society groups told IRIN on Saturday that they had received information about a postponement and a change of the meeting's venue. No official reason have been cited for the postponement. Consultations have been going on in Monrovia among civil-society groups and political parties to discuss Ghana as alternative venue for the peace talks. The groups also called on the government and LURD to negotiate a ceasefire and end all hostilities.