Government probes report of military training in Nimba

A team of government officials will head for Nimba County in north central Liberia on Tuesday to investigate reports that military training activities are taking place close to the border with Cote d’Ivoire, the transitional government said in a statement. The allegations have raised fears that a new rebel movement is in the making, which could scupper Liberia’s recent return to peace after 14 years of civil war. The statement, issued on Sunday night, said the team was being sent in response to a warning by Jerry Gonyon, a traditional chief in Nimba County, that secret military training was being conducted in the area. Gonyon issued a similar warning in 1989 shortly before Charles Taylor launched an insurrection in Nimba County that led to the start of the civil war. The district subsequently became a major recruiting ground for his National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL). Taylor subsequently emerged as the dominant war-lord in Liberia. He went on to win a presidential election in 1997, but was forced to quit and go into exile last year. The fact that Gonyon has once again issued a warning of potential trouble in Nimba County, adds credence to the fears of many Monrovians that a new rebel group is forming there. The investigative team will be headed by Colonel Arthur Kandakai, a career soldier who serves as coordinator of the transitional government’s National Security Joint Commission. It is expected to report back by 15 March. A spokeswoman for the UN peacekeeping force in Liberia said she could neither confirm or deny Gonyon’s report of military training in Nimba. All three armed factions in Liberia have a presence in the county, which adjoins both Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire. The peacekeeping force, which is due to reach its full strength of 15,000 men later this month, has garrisons in two or three of the main towns in Nimba County. However, the dense tropical rainforest which covers most of the district remains beyond its control.