Fighting reported closer to Monrovia

Fighting between Liberian government forces and armed opponents was reported on Monday to be moving closer to the capital, Monrovia, humanitarian sources told IRIN.

Attempts by humanitarian workers to conduct a rapid needs assessment among the internally displaced people (IDPs) were delayed due to the security situation. But it was estimated that some 6,000 IDPs had reached Ganta in Nimba County while another 5,000 had reached Totoka, south of Gbarnga. The total number of IDPs in Liberia was estimated to be at least 40,000.

Humanitarian workers in neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire told IRIN that dozens of Liberians had crossed from Liberia into the country over the weekend.

Sounds of gunfire on Monday sparked off panic in Monrovia. President Charles Taylor appealed for calm, saying his forces would push back the opponents. During a radio address, he said, contrary to claims by rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), the central town of Gbarnga, 160 km north of Monrovia, had not been overrun.

A statement issued by the LURD on Thursday had said Gbarnga and "a number of strategic towns in central Liberia" had fallen to the rebels.

"We are not close to being defeated", Taylor said. At least 100 rebel fighters, he said, had been killed at Gbarnga since last week. He acknowledged that fighting was going on in Arthington, 16 km north of Monrovia where he has a house and Klay junction, 40 km north of Monrovia.

News agencies on Monday quoted residents of Monrovia as saying they also heard sounds of gunfire from the Po River bridge, 15 km from the city and one of the last major lines of defence between the state forces and the LURD.

LURD rebels, who are seeking to oust Taylor, said on Sunday they had attacked and taken over the town of Klay junction and were advancing toward the capital, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile the Liberian parliament on Friday extended for six months a state of emergency introduced in February because of the crisis in the country. Parliament speaker, Nyudueh Morkonmana, was quoted by Liberia International radio as saying that parliament met in an emergency session.

The emergency was extended after last week’s decision by the UN Security Council to renew sanctions against Liberia following a report of a panel of experts. The panel probed compliance with Resolution 1343 of March 2001, under which the sanctions were imposed on Monrovia for its links with rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone. It recommended the maintenance of an arms embargo, saying there was credible evidence that the government was buying weapons in violation of restrictions.

Human rights groups have said Taylor had taken advantage of the emergency to perpetrate abuses including killings of civilians, rape and forced conscription.