Former government fighters riot during demobilisation

A day after the United Nations-supervised disarmament of Liberian fighters started, former government fighters on Monday shot in the air, looted shops and beat up people in the eastern Paynesville suburbs of the capital, Monrovia, in a riot over money. The rowdy fighters, who said they were demanding money in exchange for their guns, set off panic among civilians at the ELWA junction, a cross-roads intersection that links Monrovia to the cantonment site that was opened on Sunday at Camp Scheifflein, 56 km to the southeast. An IRIN correspondent saw about one hundred fighters loot bottles of soda, other soft drinks and biscuits from petty traders along the roadsides. Angry civilians halted the flow of regular commercial vehicles towards the main international airport at Robertsfield as the looting continued. Abraham Dorley, a local money changer witnessing the chaos said: "The UN is only trying to help us, but these fighters have be patient. Disarmament is a process and not a one day thing. We are tired of running around in Liberia". The shooting, which lasted about 30 minutes, stopped when the fighters noticed that UN peacekeepers had arrived in the area. The peacekeepers ordered them to return to the cantonment site to continue the disarmament exercise. But defiant fighters told IRIN that they would only hand over their weapons when the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), paid them cash. "I want money before I can give my gun to anybody," a fighter calling himself General "Black Cat" told IRIN. Under the terms of the disarmament that started on Sunday, each of Liberia's estimated 40,000 combatants is to receive US $300 upon disarming, demobilizing and reintegrating their community. The money would be paid in two instalments. The UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Liberia, Jacques Klein, speaking at the launch of the disarmament process on Sunday confirmed there was a comprehensive package for combatants who turned in their guns. "They will be clothed and fed. They will receive health care, counseling, vocational training, schooling, apprenticeships, and a modest stipend to help them on their way to resettlement and reintegration into civil society," Klein told the launch ceremony. "They will be given the opportunity to begin a new life, free of fear, free of violence, free of the deprivations of war," he added. At the launch, hundreds of fighters had turned up with weapons including machine guns, Rocket Propelled Grenade Launchers (RPG) and rifles for disarmament. "I do not want to be like those people who just want to steal and loot. I want to go to school and learn something for the future that is why I came to disarm to UNMIL," one fighter, Colonel "Dragon Baby", told IRIN. UNMIL distributed leaflets outlining the steps of the disarmament process to the fighters, beginning with the handing over of weapons to UNMIL. The fighters would then move into cantonment areas for counseling and training for three weeks. After the three weeks, each fighter would get an initial US $150, before being discharged from the cantonment area. Upon discharge, they would start vocational training and interim employment. The last $150 would be paid to the combatants after being reintegrated into their communities. The process got off to a slow start because UNMIL which is overseeing it still has only 5,000 troops out of an approved total of 15,000, to police the process. UNMIL only expects to gain full troop strength early next year.