Preliminary talks held with one rebel group in Sierra Leone

The facilitator of proposed peace talks aimed at ending Liberia's civil war held preliminary talks with one of the country's two rebel movements in Sierra Leone on Monday, but the other failed to show up. Former Nigerian head of state Abdusalami Abubakar said he held talks in Freetown with representatives of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), a rebel group which over the past four years has captured much of northern Liberia. However, Abubakar said on Tuesday that the second rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), which has seized much of eastern Liberia in recent weeks, had failed to show up. Abubakar, who is facilitating peace talks brokered by the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), said he would still try to meet MODEL leaders before the formal peace talks open at Akosombo in Ghana on 4 June. The retired army general said his talks with LURD went well "in the sense that they gave me their demands on what they think is wrong with Liberia and what the government should do to allow peace". "If they are sincere in what they told me, I believe we would soon have peace in Liberia because everybody is yearning for peace," Abubakar told IRIN in Freetown. "What I would say to Liberians and the whole region is, give peace a chance. Our people are tired, there is hunger, there is disease, wanton destruction." Abubakar stressed that "Of course to have peace talks you must have a ceasefire". He said LURD had requested that an international stabilisation force be sent to Liberia to ensure that any truce agreed was not violated. LURD Secretary General Joe Gbalah who led a five-man delegation to the meeting, said it was "fruitful". But he said LURD had expressed concern about immigration and security matters in Ghana. "ECOWAS should arrange travel documents [and] security for us to be protected, considering the man we are dealing with," he said. Abubakar said these concerns were being addressed by Ghanaian President John Kufuor, who is the current chairman of ECOWAS. Gbalah described Liberian President Charles Taylor as a "terrorist" who he could not trust. "If terrorists see you in their way, they design mechanisms to destroy you. This is why we are so particular about security," he said. All the same, Gbalah said LURD leaders were ready to meet face-to-face with Taylor so that they could "give him the message so that he can see reason to quit holding power". Groups of Liberian women also met Abubakar in Freetown and told him they wanted the Liberian government and the LURD forces to observe an "immediate ceasefire unconditionally" and "engage in fruitful dialogue." The Liberian government has meanwhile accused the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) of supplying food to MODEL rebels in the southeastern port city of Harper, which fell to MODEL a week ago. The UNHCR denied the allegations, which followed harsh criticism of Taylor by UNHCR chief Ruud Lubbers during a recent tour of West Africa. "The UNHCR is currently sending relief supplies to areas under the control of MODEL in Harper, while areas under government's control are not receiving any supplies," Liberian information minister Reginald Goodgridge said in a statement on Monday. He added that three UNHCR trucks loaded with food and an unidentified helicopter arrived in Harper a few days after MODEL captured the timber export port on the Cote d'Ivoire border. Moses Okello, UNHCR representative to Liberia, said in reply that UNHCR has never done business with MODEL and had no staff in Harper at the moment, due to the recent fighting there. Okello added however that four UNHCR trucks went missing during the battle for Harper and might have been used by "unauthorised people". Relations between the Liberian government and UNHCR became strained following a visit by Lubbers to Monrovia on 14 May when President Charles Taylor refused to see him. Lubbers said subsequently that the Liberian government should face reality and agree to share power with its opponents and that Taylor should consider stepping down. The government in turn accused Lubbers of being a spokesman for rebel groups who it said had expounded similar views. On Monday the US government urged its citizens to leave Liberia in view of escalating fighting between the government and rebels.