UNMIL disarms former government fighters in Buchanan

Hundreds of Liberian militia men loyal to former president Charles Taylor were being disarmed by UN peacekeepers near the port city of Buchanan on Friday after they clashed with rebel forces on the road to the capital Monrovia, a military spokesman for the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) said. The pro-Taylor militias were blamed for continuing skirmishes with rebel fighters three months after the signing of a peace agreement to end 14 years of civil war. In particular, they were held responsible for a shootout on Tuesday on the main road from Monrovia to Buchanan, 120 km to the southeast. This forced relief agencies to suspend operations in Buchanan for 24 hours. Lieutenant Colonel Borje Johansson, UNMIL military spokesman, told IRIN by telephone that the disarmament exercise was being conducted in a village on the main road called Compound One. "The UNMIL team went there. The exercise takes a while and we don't know what we will find. We should have details on what we will collect on Saturday," he said. UNMIL Force Commander General Daniel Opande traveled to Compound One on Thursday to investigate reports of fighting between the pro-Taylor militia men and rebels of the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) and directed the immediate disarmament of 300 to 400 militia fighters. Accompanied by the Liberian Defense Minister Daniel Chea, General Opande also visited Gapo Town in nearby River Cess county, an enclave in MODEL territory that is still controlled by a government militia group headed by a man known as General Koffi. UNMIL said in a statement that General Opande told the fighters in Gapo to immediately cease hostilities as they awaited the start of a disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration and rehabilitation campaign which is due to start on 7 December. Chea called a fresh meeting in Gapo on Saturday between chiefs and elders in the area and UNMIL. He directed the pro-Taylor fighters in the area to ensure that General Koffi turned up for it.