Government probing ethnic tension in Lofa county

President Charles Taylor has sent a ministerial team to Lofa county in the north to investigate reports of renewed ethnic tension there, Star radio reported today. It said recent fighting in the Voinjama area had left at least three people dead. The Liberian interior minister, who is a member of the team, said the government had not yet established who was involved in the fighting. However, regional analysts note the traditional hostility in Lofa county between the Mandingo and Loma people who live in separate communities with their own leadership structures. The Loma regard the Mandingo as Guineans or foreigners who have “abused their hospitality” , and there have been instances of Loma appropriating Mandingo property and homes, the analysts say.