Government warns against shipping supplies

The Liberian government on Monday warned humanitarian agencies not to transport relief supplies by sea following the capture by rebels of the southeastern port town of Greenville, which fell at the weekend to a new armed group, humanitarian sources said. The sources told IRIN on Tuesday that Greenville had been taken by the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) - a new rebel group composed mainly of Krahn fighters from southeastern Liberia. The capture of the town was a major setback to the Liberian government because Greenville, about 250km southeast of the capital, Monrovia, was an important port for the export of logs, which bring in much needed funds. A government statement issued on Monday evening confirmed the attack on Greenville. It said all relief ships should be diverted to the port of Monrovia for what it called "safe-keeping". The government warning came in the wake of plans by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to use a World Food Programme boat to transport relief supplies to Ivorian refugees trapped in another southeastern coastal town, Harper. Harper, provincial headquarters of Maryland County, is a short distance from the southwestern Ivorian border town of Tabou. The Liberian government blamed the attacks on a conspiracy by former fighters of the defunct the Liberian Peace Council (LPC) who were working for logging companies operating in Sinoe, the county that includes Grenville. The LPC, formerly one of Liberia warring factions, operated in that part of the country from 1993-1997. Quoting military sources, the government said the fighting had concentrated in the centre of Greenville. Humanitarian sources told IRIN fighting was also going on at Po river, 35 km west of Monrovia, between government fighters and the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed concern about the outbreak of fighting in Sinoe, warning that it could impede access to internally displaced people, including third country nationals and refugees. The fighting, OCHA said on Tuesday, could also spark fresh movement of people westwards towards the port of Buchanan. Buchanan already hosted 4,000 internally displaced persons by April. Now some of the 5,268 refugees and third-country nationals in Zwedru, a town near the Ivorian border that was overrun by rebels a few weeks ago, and 1,799 in Harper were moving towards it, OCHA said. Meanwhile a Liberian human rights group on Monday called on the international community to demand that the LURD discontinue attacks on civilians and be held accountable for human rights abuses. In a statement titled: "Liberia's Undeclared War: Murder, Mayhem and Abductions", Imani Inc. said the world had turned a deaf ear to the appeals of Liberian civilians. "Over the last six years, Liberia has experienced a rapid decline in health, social and welfare services. Diamond and timber mining seem to be the major exports with a handful of government officials and internationals holding rights to these lucrative business while much of the population are proclaimed to be amongst the poorest of the poor," Imani said. The full Imani statement can be obtained through www.imanihouse.org